Former US Prez Donald Trump Loses Appeal Of Gag Order In New York 'Hush Money' Criminal Case
A New York court rejected Donald Trump's challenge to a gag order in his hush-money case, prohibiting public comments about the case until his sentencing on September 18.
Former US President Donald Trump's challenge to a gag order in his hush money criminal case was rejected by a New York court on Thursday (local time). The Republican presidential nominee was convicted in May on charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star.
The decision by the Appellate Division in Manhattan means Trump cannot comment publicly about individual prosecutors and others involved in the case until Justice Juan Merchan sentences him on September 18, seven weeks before the November 5 election, according to a Reuters report.
Trump's latest challenge to the gag was filed after his unanimous jury conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. His lawyers had argued the gag order should have been dispelled at the end of his trial.
The lawyers argued that the gag order violated Trump's constitutional free speech rights under the First Amendment. "The gag order is blatantly un-American," said Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump's campaign, according to Reuters reports.
On Thursday afternoon, Trump's lawyers renewed their demand that Justice Merchan recuse himself, citing his daughter's work as a Democratic political consultant and her "long-standing" relationship with Trump's Democratic rival Kamala Harris.
They also said the "unjust and unconstitutional" gag order restricts Trump's ability to respond to Vice President Harris, saying she framed her candidacy as that of "prosecutor vs convicted felon." Notably, Harris served as California's attorney general earlier in her career.
Justice Merchan, however, rejected a similar recusal request by the Republican leader before the trial began, and another recusal request last year. The judge imposed the gag order a few weeks before the trial began on April 22, saying Trump's history of making threatening statements could undermine the proceedings.
The gag order originally also prevented Trump from talking about witnesses and jurors, but those restrictions were removed shortly after the Republican leader's May 30 felony conviction, when jurors found Trump guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, for covering up former personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen's USD 130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
The payment was made in exchange for Daniels' silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump a decade earlier, which Trump denied. Trump won the presidency by defeating Democrat Hillary Clinton.
The criminal trial was the first of any US president. Trump faces up to four years in prison, and can also be fined. Trump has vowed to appeal his conviction after he is sentenced.
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