The New York Court of Appeals on Thursday The motion was denied. Donald Trump’s legal team has asked Manhattan Judge Juan Marchan to lift the remainder of a gag order he issued against the former president.
Trump’s lawyers have repeatedly asked for the restraining order to be lifted, arguing it is silencing the Republican presidential candidate as the election campaign continues.
“It continues to pose a significant and imminent threat.”
Marchant’s gag order initially barred Trump from speaking publicly about anyone or their family members involved in the New York criminal trial.
In May, a New York City jury found Trump guilty of all 34 felony counts brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (Democrat) of falsifying business records.
Following the ruling, Judge Marchan partially lifted the gag order in late June, allowing Trump to speak publicly about witnesses in the case but still barring him from talking about his staff or family.
Trump was scheduled to be sentenced last month, but after the Supreme Court recently upheld presidential immunity, his lawyers filed a motion to overturn the jury’s guilty verdict, arguing that some of the evidence used by prosecutors to secure a conviction fell into the category of his official duties while in office.
In response, Judge Marchan agreed to postpone ruling while he considered whether the Supreme Court’s decisions holding that the President has absolute immunity for acts performed within his “definitive and exclusive constitutional powers” and that he has presumed immunity for all acts of official conduct affect the New York case.
Marchant said he would make a decision by Sept. 6, with the sentence possibly being postponed until Sept. 18. Trump faces up to four years in prison. The New York case was one of four criminal charges filed against the former president.
A New York appeals court ruled on Thursday on Trump’s request to lift the remaining gag order against Marchan. The court denied the motion, finding that the end of the trial did not amount to a “change of circumstances” and that “the fair administration of justice necessarily includes sentencing.”
The court argued that lifting the gag order against Trump, who recently survived an assassination attempt, would “pose a serious and imminent threat,” and cited threats made to employees of the district attorney’s office after the verdict was read. There were no reports that employees were harmed by the attempted intimidation.
“Contrary to petitioner’s contention, the People’s submissions in opposition to his motion in the Supreme Court indicate that the threats received by the District Attorney’s staff following the jury verdict continued to be a significant and imminent threat,” the appeals court wrote.
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