(NewsWorthy.news) – Former president Donald Trump has had his appeal on a gag order denied by a New York judge in his infamous hush money trial.
On Tuesday May 14, the embattled GOP presidential candidate was refused in his effort to remove the gag order placed on him by Justice Juan Merchan, which restricts what he is allowed to say about people connected to the criminal case, such as the family members of the prosecution and the judge.
Trump’s legal team argued that such an order was instituted in violation of the defendant’s free speech rights, protected under the First Amendment. The order, first issued back in March, prohibited Trump from talking about the jury, witnesses, court staff, and attorneys working on the trial.
It did not prevent the former president from talking about Merchan or Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan District Attorney and lead prosecution in the case, though it was later expanded to include Merchan’s daughter.
The so-called hush money trial centers around 34 felony counts of false business records related to payments made by former Trump attorney Michael Cohen to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. The transaction is alleged to have occurred with the intent to keep a romantic affair between the actress and the politician a secret ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Trump has pleaded not guilty.
This week, the defendant’s effort to repeal the gag order imposed on him was upheld as “properly determined” by the appellate court in New York. The state’s Supreme Court department further stated that Trump’s remarks on people involved in his case “posed a significant threat” to the trial’s integrity.
The court of appeals wrote that Merchan had “properly weighed” the argument of Trump’s First Amendment freedoms to the responsibility of the court to protect “fair administration of justice” in the criminal trial. Previously, the former president has been held by Merchan in contempt of court related to violations of the gag order 10 separate times.
Copyright 2024, NewsWorthy.news
