A New York state appeals court has denied former President Donald Trump’s request to lift a gag order imposed in his business records falsification case, with the order remaining in place until the former president’s sentencing.
The Appellate Division, First Department issued an opinion on Aug. 1, stating that it had reviewed Trump’s challenge to the gag order, which was imposed in March by New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, but opted to keep it in place until Trump’s sentencing in September.
A jury found the former president guilty in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
The court reasoned that the sentencing phase is a critical part of the criminal process and the gag order is needed to protect the individuals involved from potential threats, intimidation, or harassment. The judges wrote that maintaining the gag order was within their authority given the fact that there were ongoing threats after the jury returned a guilty verdict.
“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 judges wrote in the order, rejecting Trump counsel’s argument that the trial’s conclusion was a significant change in the circumstances.
Merchan terminated parts of the gag order on June 25, adding that the rest will expire once sentencing is complete. The judge freed Trump to comment about witnesses and jurors but kept trial prosecutors as well as court staffers and their families off limits until sentencing.
The judge broke the original gag order down into three categories: statements about witnesses; statements about jurors; and statements about court staff and counsel, which was later extended to include family members of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Merchan, but not the judge and district attorney themselves.
“Circumstances have now changed. The trial portion of these proceedings ended when the verdict was rendered, and the jury discharged,” Merchan wrote, terminating parts of the gag order.
The New York state appeals court stated in its Aug. 1 order that it found Merchan’s decision to keep parts of the order in place to be reasonable.
“Since the underlying criminal action remains pending, Justice Merchan did not act in excess of jurisdiction by maintaining the narrowly tailored protections in paragraph (b) of the Restraining order,” they wrote.
A request for comment sent to Trump’s spokesperson and legal team were not immediately returned.
During the trial, Merchan fined the former president $10,000 for what he said were violations of the gag order. He also warned the former president that he might have to jail him if he continued to violate the order.
Trump and his attorneys repeatedly asked Merchan and other courts to terminate the gag order, arguing that it violated his constitutional right to free speech.
