Trump Loses Appeal to Lift Gag Order in Hush Money Trial

NEW YORK—An appeals court in the state of New York has denied former President Donald Trump's appeal to lift a gag order placed on him by the judge in his so-called hush money trial involving AVN Hall of Famer Stormy Daniels and the effort to silence her from speaking out about an affair the two had in 2006 during a golf tournament at Lake Tahoe in Nevada. Attorneys representing Trump have argued that the gag order is unnecessary and that it violates his ability to campaign. Counsel also asked that his guilty verdict and conviction of 34 felony counts for falsifying business records to cover up payments to Daniels should be dismissed. The five-judge panel of the Appellate Division, First Department, found that presiding Judge Juan Merchan justly ordered Trump to remain under court orders. The judges on the panel characterized this period as a "critical state of the criminal proceeding" on whether the case is dismissed on appeal. The appellate court's decision reads, "Accordingly, since the underlying criminal action remains pending, [Merchan] did not act in excess of jurisdiction by maintaining the narrowly tailored protections." It adds that lifting Trump's gag order poses "a significant and imminent threat" to those protected by it. Merchan amended Trump's gag order in June, allowing him to comment on witnesses such as Daniels and his former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen. Cohen was the chief witness to the case argued by Manhattan prosecutors alleging that Trump had a leading role in the conspiracy to falsify documents. In an interview with Rachel Maddow for MSNBC, Daniels said that she fears for her life and the life of her teenage daughter. The order still gags Trump from speaking about the court, the judge, prosecutors, court staff members and their family members. Trump's sentencing was delayed from July 11, 2024, to September so that Merchan can review a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling expanding presidential immunity and weigh arguments from the prosecutors and Trump's defense attorneys as to whether his guilty verdict should be vacated and the criminal case thrown out.