The New York Court of Appeals wrote that ‘no substantial constitutional question is directly involved’ in the appeal.
The top court in New York state on Tuesday declined to hear former President Donald Trump’s appeal of a gag order relating to his falsification of business records case.
In a decision list, the New York Court of Appeals wrote that former President Trump’s appeal of Judge Juan Merchan’s gag order was “dismissed without costs” and added that “no substantial constitutional question is directly involved.” The court’s chief judge, Rowan D. Wilson, and Judge Caitlin J. Halligan did not partake in the decision.
It means that the gag order will remain in effect for former President Trump, meaning he still cannot make public comments on certain individuals connected to the case. Judge Merchan has not signaled when he will lift it.
Judge Merchan issued a gag order earlier this year against the former president, prohibiting him from speaking publicly about witnesses, jurors, court staff, and others who are connected to the case, although he allowed President Trump to criticize both the judge and District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the case. Later, the judge expanded his order to include members of his own family.
During the trial, which ultimately resulted in former President Trump being found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records, Judge Merchan fined the former president $10,000 for what he said were violations of the gag order. He also warned the former president that he might have to jail him if he continued to do so.
On multiple occasions, former President Trump and his attorneys had asked Judge Merchan and other courts in New York to terminate the gag order, arguing that it violated his constitutional right to free speech as the leading Republican presidential candidate. In their appeal to the state Court of Appeals, the Trump attorneys argued that Judge Merchan’s order “restricts President Trump’s core political speech on matters of central importance” during the 2024 campaign.
“It violates the fundamental right of every American voter to hear from the leading candidate for President on matters of enormous public importance,” his attorneys wrote to the court.
