Former President Donald Trump won’t be able to talk about prosecutors and others involved with his Manhattan criminal case at least until his sentencing in November, as New York’s highest court declined to take up Trump’s appeal of the gag order against him on Thursday, leaving it in effect while Trump’s sentence remains pending.
Former President Donald Trump speaks to the media after leaving court during his trial at Manhattan ... [+]
New York’s Court of Appeals—the highest court in the state—denied Trump’s request for the court to hear the case, saying only that the appeal was dismissed “upon the ground that no substantial constitutional question is directly involved.”
Trump is barred under the gag order from making public statements about court staff, prosecutors and their family members, though Judge Juan Merchan did narrow the order after Trump’s trial ended to allow him to speak about witnesses in the case.
The ex-president can also talk about the judge himself—but cannot talk about his daughter, whom Trump and his allies have targeted because of her work with Democratic politicians.
Thursday’s ruling came after New York’s mid-level appeals court denied Trump’s challenge in August, ruling the restrictions against Trump should remain in place until his sentencing.
Merchan has ruled Trump has already violated the gag order 10 times, paying $1,000 per offense, and Merchan warned in May future violations could result in Trump being thrown in jail.
Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told Forbes in a statement the ex-president will “continue to fight against the unconstitutional Witch Hunts and Gag Orders,” claiming Democrats are “trying to unlawfully gag President Trump … because they know that he is dominating this election.”
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Trump’s sentencing is now scheduled to take place Nov. 26, after the ex-president successfully asked Merchan to push it back until after the election. Merchan delayed the sentencing date—previously set for Sept. 18—because he said he wanted to avoid any perception that the sentence was based on political bias or trying to impact the election. It’s possible Trump may try to delay the sentencing even after that point, as his lawyers argued in a court filing on Monday that Trump’s case should be put on hold, in part because there is not enough time between the sentencing and when Merchan issues a ruling on Nov. 12 regarding whether Trump’s verdict should be thrown out. Trump has argued the verdict should be dismissed based on the Supreme Court’s ruling giving him some immunity. The ex-president has been convicted on 34 felony counts of falsification of business records that each carry a maximum sentence of four years in prison and/or a $5,000 fine, though legal experts believe it’s unlikely—but not out of the question—that Trump will be sentenced to prison as a first-time offender. It remains to be seen how the sentencing could be impacted if Trump wins the election, though it’s likely the court would postpone any sentence until after he leaves office.
Trump has strongly opposed gag orders against him in the Manhattan case and other cases against him, decrying them as interference in the election and a show of bias against him. “MY CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS HAVE BEEN TAKEN AWAY!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social about the gag order during his criminal trial after adult film star Stormy Daniels testified against him, and has previously claimed the gag orders against him mean he “can be barred from talking and, in effect, telling the truth.”
Trump was convicted in the Manhattan criminal case in May based on a hush money payment his ex-attorney Michael Cohen paid to Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to cover up her allegations of an affair, which Trump denies having. Trump then reimbursed Cohen through a series of payments made throughout 2017, which prosecutors successfully alleged were falsely labeled as being for legal services. Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges and has continued to deny any wrongdoing in the case. The ex-president has faced several gag orders as both criminal and civil cases against him have gone to court, as Trump has frequently lashed out against prosecutors, judges and others as he claims the cases against him are “witch hunts” designed to harm his presidential campaign. In addition to the hush money case, Trump also received gag orders in the civil fraud trial against him and his company and his federal criminal case for trying to overturn the 2020 election, the latter of which still remains in effect. Merchan first imposed the gag order against Trump in March, later expanding it to include family members following the attacks on the judge’s daughter. Trump violated the gag order during his criminal trial for social media posts that criticized Cohen and Daniels, as well as a post and media interview in which Trump suggested the jury was made up of Democrats who were biased against him.