Trump's Appeal of The Gag Order in the "Hush Money" Trial Was Turned Down by A New York Court!

Former President Donald Trump tried to get the gag order that limits what he can say about people involved in his ongoing criminal trial lifted on Tuesday, but a New York court said the order does not violate Trump’s First Amendment rights.

Justice Juan Merchan, who is in charge of Trump’s trial on 34 counts of falsifying business records, gave the original order in March. It said that Trump couldn’t talk about possible witnesses, jurors, lawyers, or court staff who were involved in the case. Merchan later added that it also applied to his daughter.

Trump was not stopped from saying bad things about Merchan or Alvin Bragg, the DA for Manhattan. He has said he is not guilty of everything.

Tuesday, the appellate division, the first department of the New York Supreme Court, said that Merchan “properly determined that [Trump’s] public statements posed a significant threat to the integrity of the testimony of witnesses and potential witnesses in this case.” The ruling was five pages long.

“We find that Justice Merchan properly weighed petitioner’s First Amendment Rights against the court’s historical commitment to ensuring the fair administration of justice in criminal cases, and the right of persons related or tangentially related to the criminal proceedings from being free from threats, intimidation, harassment, and harm,” it said.

Trump has been found guilty of contempt of court 10 times for breaking the order. He told Trump last week that he could go to jail for breaking the law again.

The most recent violation was when Trump said something about the political makeup of the panel. Merchant said in a written order on May 6 that Trump’s comments “not only called into question the integrity, and therefore the legitimacy of these proceedings but again raised the specter of fear for the safety of the jurors and their loved ones.”

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Last week, Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche asked Merchan to change the gag order so that Trump could “respond publicly to what happened in court the last day and a half.” He was referring to Stormy Daniels’ testimony, the adult film star who got $130,000 in 2016 to keep quiet about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump, which he denies. Merchan said that the order was put in place “because of the nature of the attacks, the vitriol” from Trump and turned down Blanche’s request. Mechan said, “Your client’s track record speaks for itself.”