Court Declines Trump’s Bid to Appeal His Hush-Money Gag Order

Nikki McCann Ramirez
·1-min read

New York’s Court of Appeals has declined to take up Donald Trump’s challenge to a gag order restricting him from attacking jurors, witnesses, and others involved in his felony conviction on charges of falsifying business records.

In a Tuesday ruling, the court determined that despite Trump’s complaint, “no substantial constitutional question is directly involved” in the matter of the gag order.

Judge Juan Merchan, who oversaw the case and trial, imposed a gag order on Trump in March after the former president attacked the judge’s daughter following an unfavorable ruling. The order bars the former president from publicly commenting on witnesses, prosecutors, court staff, and jurors.

Throughout the trial, Trump complained that the order amounted to a violation of his First Amendment rights. The former president’s flagrant disregard for the restrictions resulted in him being declared in contempt of the court 10 times and fined thousands of dollars for his repeat violations of the order.

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