Trump Loses Appeal to Overturn Gag Order In NY Fraud Trial

AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez

Former President Donald Trump on Thursday lost his appeal to overturn the gag order instated on him in his civil fraud trial in New York. Reuters reported that a mid-level New York state appeals court denied Trump’s appeal to end the gag order, which limits Trump from attacking court staff – as he has repeatedly done.

Judge Arthur Engoron, who is presiding over the trial, issued the limited gag order on October 3rd after Trump attacked his law clerk, sharing her name, image, and even a link to her personal Instagram account in what many viewed as blatant intimidation.

Engoron and his staff have since received hundreds of threats, which have been transcribed and entered into evidence.

“Here, the gravity of potential harm is small, given that the Gag Order is narrow, limited to prohibiting solely statements regarding the court’s staff,” read the appellate court’s rejection of Trump’s request to overturn. Trump argued his First Amendment right to free speech was violated by the gag order.

Trump is currently on trial in New York City to determine the penalties related to New York Attorney General Letitia James’s civil suit against Trump, his company, and his adult sons. James alleges that Trump committed fraud by falsely inflating his assets for well over a decade. Engoron has already found Trump liable for the fraud in a summary ruling and the trial is ongoing to determine penalties.

James is seeking a $250 million fine and to bar Trump and his sons from doing business in the state of New York, which would effectively dissolve his company and force the sale of several of his highly indebted assets.

Earlier in the trial, Engoron fined Trump $5,000 for violating the gag order. “Make no mistake: future violations, whether intentional or unintentional, will subject the violator to far more severe sanctions,” Engoron wrote in a court filing in late October.

While Trump quickly deleted his original Truth Social post attacking the judge’s law clerk, Engoron fined Trump for the post remaining visible on his campaign website for two weeks after he had banned Trump from making such comments.

Trump’s targeting of judges, prosecutors, and other involved in his ongoing legal cases have stirred intense debate and controversy as in most legal proceedings defendants are explicitly barred from publicly intimidating officers of the court. In his DC federal elections case, Trump is also now under a partial gag order, barring him from further attacks on prosecutors or attempting to intimidate potential witnesses.

This is a breaking story and has been updated.