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NY v. Trump: Appeals court rejects Trump’s request to end ‘unconstitutional’ gag order

The Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected former President Donald Trump’s attempt to end a gag order that has prevented him from speaking publicly about many aspects of the case.

“We find that Judge Merchan adequately weighed petitioner’s First Amendment rights against the court’s historic commitment to ensuring the fair administration of justice in criminal cases and the right of persons connected or tangentially related to criminal proceedings to be free from threats, intimidation and harassment. and harm,” the First Department of the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court wrote in its order on Tuesday.

Trump’s legal team now has the opportunity to appeal the gag order to the New York Court of Appeals.

“The gag order imposed by the conflicted Judge Juan Merchan in the anarchic Manhattan district attorney case is unconstitutional and un-American. The threat to imprison the 45th president of the United States and the leading candidate in the 2024 presidential election for exercising “His First Amendment rights are a Third World authoritarian tactic typical of corrupt Joe Biden and his cronies,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital.

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Trump speaks to the media on May 13. (Photo by SETH WENIG/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

The rejected appeal comes as Trump, as well as his allies, have repeatedly and consistently criticized the order as “unconstitutional” and preventing Trump from defending himself against attacks from critics.

Presiding Judge Juan Merchán imposed the gag order on Trump before his criminal trial began in New York, ordering the presumptive Republican presidential candidate not to make or order others to make public statements about witnesses, lawyers in the case or about the court staff, the district attorney’s staff. or family members of staff.

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Former US President Donald Trump watches as New York prosecutor Christopher Conroy speaks before Judge Juan Merchán.

Former US President Donald Trump looks on as New York prosecutor Christopher Conroy speaks before Judge Juan Merchán during a hearing to discuss a gag order preventing Trump from publicly criticizing witnesses and others involved in the criminal trial. (REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg)

After the trial began, Merchan ruled that Trump violated the order on 10 occasions, resulting in a combined $10,000 fine. The violations arose from messages posted by Trump on Truth Social and the campaign website.

In the judge’s initial gag order ruling, he threatened Trump with jail time if he continued to violate the order, while lamenting that he could not fine Trump more than $1,000 for each violation. Merchan wrote in the order that if Trump carries out “continued deliberate violations” of the gag order, he could face “prison punishment” whether it is “necessary and appropriate.”

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Judge Merchan poses for the photo

Judge Juan Merchán poses for a photograph in his office, on Thursday, March 14, 2024, in New York. (AP Photos)

Merchan also lamented that the dollar amount of the penalties “unfortunately will not achieve the desired result in those cases where the detractor can easily afford such a fine.”

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Trump responded to jail threats earlier this month as a “sacrifice” he was willing to make to protect the Constitution.

“I have to watch every word I say to them. They ask me a question, a simple question that I would like to ask them, but I can’t talk about it because this judge has given me a gag order and [says] You’ll go to jail if you violate it,” Trump said last week.

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“And frankly, you know what? Our Constitution is much more important than jail. It’s not even close. “I’ll make that sacrifice any day.”


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