New York’s highest court declined on Tuesday to hear former President Donald Trump’s appeal of the gag order in his Manhattan case, despite Trump being convicted weeks ago, reports said.
In its ruling the New York Court of Appeals stated that “no substantial constitutional question is directly involved.” Trump was convicted in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the case brought by Democratic Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg using a novel legal theory that was criticized by experts on the right and left.
During the trial, Judge Juan Merchan found Trump in violation of the order 10 times. He imposed a $1,000 fine for each violation and threatened jail time for future offenses. Merchan originally issued the gag order in March to restrict Trump’s comments about witnesses, prosecutors other than the district attorney, court staff, their families and prospective jurors. He extended the order after Trump criticized his daughter on Truth Social for her work as a Democratic activist and fundraiser. He also criticized Merchan for his donations to Democratic candidates.
Trump’s legal team appealed the gag order to New York’s highest court in mid-May after a lower court found 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.” Following the former president’s conviction, his team also asked Merchan to lift the order, arguing that the “concerns articulated by the government and the Court do not justify restrictions on the First Amendment rights of President Trump” after the trial.
Bragg’s office defended the decision to keep the order in place, stating that it was meant to protect more than just the trial, at least until Trump’s sentencing hearing in July. Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11, just a few days before the start of the Republican National Convention. Opinions about whether he’ll actually receive jail time have been all over the map so it’s impossible to say for certain what Merchan will do. Also, Bragg has not said whether he will push for jail time for the former president, which would be another historical first.
