A New York state appeals court on Thursday rejected Donald Trump’s challenge to a hush-money order against him in the criminal case in which the former US president was convicted in May of paying money to keep a porn star quiet.
The decision by the Appellate Division in Manhattan means the Republican presidential candidate cannot comment publicly about individual prosecutors and others in the case until Justice Juan Merchan sentences him on September 18, seven weeks before the November 5 election.
Trump’s lawyers have argued that the order violates Trump’s constitutional right to free speech under the First Amendment.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said Trump “continues to challenge the gag order.”
“This order is blatantly un-American, as it continues to silence President Trump,” Cheung said in a statement.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday showed Trump in a close race with Vice President Kamala Harris, who is set to become the Democratic nominee. Harris leads Trump 43%-42% among registered voters, which is within the margin of error.
Marchen filed the gag order a few weeks before the trial was set to begin on April 22, saying Trump’s history of making threatening statements could undermine the proceedings.
The original order barred Trump from commenting on prosecutors, court staff, witnesses and jurors. A separate order against revealing the names of anonymous jurors is still in effect.
Marchen lifted restrictions on witnesses and jurors after Trump was convicted on May 30.
The mid-level appeals court, Appellate Division, said threats Bragg employees received following the verdict remain a “significant and immediate” threat.
“Judge Merchan did not act beyond jurisdiction in upholding the narrowly tailored protections,” the five-judge panel said.
The appeals court in May upheld Marchen’s original gag order, citing the need to protect people from “threats, intimidation, harassment, and harm,” and rejected Trump’s First Amendment argument.
The order gives Trump freedom to speak about Bragg and Merchant.
The jury found Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, including concealing a $130,000 payment made by former personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
The payment was in exchange for Daniels keeping silent about a sexual affair she had with Trump more than a decade ago before the 2016 election, which Trump denied. Trump won the presidency by defeating Democrat Hillary Clinton.
This criminal trial was the first trial against any American President.
Trump faces up to four years in prison and could also be fined.
It is rare for people convicted of falsifying business records in New York to end up behind bars, especially for people like Trump who have no prior criminal history.
Trump has vowed to appeal his conviction after he is sentenced.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
