New York appeals court upholds gag order in Trump hush money case

A New York appeals court on Tuesday affirmed a gag order against former President Trump in his hush money criminal case. 

The order, imposed on Trump by Judge Juan Merchan, bars Trump from publicly commenting on witnesses, prosecutors, court staff or the judge’s family. It does not prevent him from attacking Merchan or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D).

Trump has railed against his gag order as a violation of his First Amendment rights, arguing it prevents him from responding to political attacks being levied by high-profile witnesses and others.

“Justice Merchan properly determined that petitioner’s public statements posed a significant threat to the integrity of the testimony of witnesses and potential witnesses in this case as well,” the decision from the five-judge panel reads. 

In the decision, the panel compares Merchan’s gag order to a gag imposed on Trump in his federal election interference case. The New York judges aligned with the District of Columbia U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision to allow Trump’s gag there to stand. 

“Weighing these concerns, the circuit court ultimately concluded that, given the record, the court had ‘a duty to act proactively to prevent the creation of an atmosphere of fear or intimidation aimed at preventing trial participants and staff from performing their functions within the trial process,’” the five-judge panel wrote. “This Court adopts the reasoning in the circuit court’s Federal Restraining Order Decision.”

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Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records over an alleged repayment scheme to Michael Cohen, Trump’s then-fixer, who had paid porn actor Stormy Daniels $130,000 during the lead-up to the 2016 election to stay quiet about an alleged affair with Trump from a decade prior. Trump denies the affair, says there was no wrongdoing with the payments and has pleaded not guilty.

The former president’s attorneys lamented how Cohen has regularly attacked Trump on social media and elsewhere in the lead-up to his testimony, which began Monday, while Trump was prohibited from responding.

On Friday, Merchan directed prosecutors to tell Cohen that he shouldn’t make any more public statements about the case.

Merchan has also found Trump violated his gag order 10 times since it was imposed, ordering he pay a $1,000 fine per violation and warning that future violations could carry jail time.