By Spy Uganda Correspondent
A New York appeals court denied former president Donald Trump’s effort to throw out the limited gag order in his New York criminal case.
A panel of five judges from New York’s mid-level appeals court rejected Trump’s argument the gag order was no longer necessary since the former president’s trial concluded, determining that the “fair administration of justice necessarily includes sentencing.”
Judge Juan Merchan imposed the gag order in March, prohibiting Trump from making public comments about jurors, witnesses, court staff, and individual prosecutors in the case other than Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Merchan held Trump in criminal contempt ten times for violating the gag order, fined the former president $10,000, and threatened to imprison him if he violated the gag order again.
Merchan lifted some of the gag order in June related to jurors and witnesses but left intact a portion of the gag order preventing statements about court staff, prosecutors, and their families.
New York’s Appellate Division found that the remaining provisions of the gag order are justified in part due to the continued threats to Bragg and his staff.
The appeals court had upheld Merchan’s original gag order in May, citing the need to protect people from “threats, intimidation, harassment, and harm,” and rejecting Trump’s First Amendment argument.
“Contrary to petitioner’s contentions, the People’s evidentiary submissions in opposition to his motion in Supreme Court demonstrate that threats received by District Attorney staff after the jury verdict continued to pose a significant and imminent threat,” the ruling said.
Trump is scheduled to be sentenced in the case on September 18.
