Earlier this month, Donald Trump became the first former president to be convicted of a felony, and he set the bar pretty high at 34 felony charges. The road to being found guilty of falsifying business records to cover up a $130K hush money payment wasn’t an easy one, though. Trump received a gag order from New York Judge Juan Merchan, disallowing him from speaking about jurors, witnesses, and other parties involved in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit remains in effect, as Trump has not received his sentencing yet, though his lawyers recently tried to have it appealed. Judge Merchan swiftly dismissed the appeal, and action that Trump has deemed “unconstitutional.” Keep reading for more information.
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NY Judge Dismisses Donald Trump's Gag Order Appeal
Donald Trump's gag order was set in place on March 26, weeks before the hush money trial even began. Judge Merchan set it into motion after observing Trump's previous patterns of verbally attacking people involved in his cases rather publicly. Unsurprisingly, Trump lashed out against this gag order, which only earned him a $10,000 fine on top of it.
Now that the trial is over, the 77-year-old's lawyers asked Judge Merchan to terminate the gag order, however, the Manhattan District Attorney's office on the other side urged Judge Merchan to keep it in place until after the sentencing.
The New York Court of Appeals swiftly dismissed this cases, citing "that no substantial constitutional question is directly involved."
Donald Trumps Claims Appeal Dismissal Is 'Unconstitutional'
Of course, this was not the answer Trump and his team wanted. Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement that he and Trump's legal team "will continue to fight against the unconstitutional Gag Order imposed by Justice Merchan."
He went on to claim that the gag order "wrongfully silences" Donald Trump "at the height of his campaign," and added that voters "have a fundamental right to hear his message."
Fortunately, a decision like this is final, so Trump will not be allowed to verbally attack members of the justice system until after the post-trial activities have been completed.
