A New York appeals court has rejected Donald Trump’s attempt to lift a gag order?that continues to restrict his public statements in the wake of his New York criminal conviction.
As it stands, the gag order bars Trump from publicly discussing the prosecutors, court staff and their families.
In the decision filed Thursday, a panel of judges from the Appellate Division First Department said Judge Juan Merchan can keep the gag order in place through Trump’s sentencing.
Merchan had lifted parts of the gag order after Trump was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records, allowing him to discuss trial witnesses and the jury, but restrictions remain in place about what Trump can say about court and prosecution staff and their family members.
“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 appeals court ruled.
Trump’s sentencing, which was originally scheduled for July, was delayed to mid-September while Merchan considers his motion to toss the conviction in the wake of the US Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision.