Donald Trump's gag order remains in effect after hush money conviction, appeals court rules

A New York appellate court rejected Donald Trump’s effort to remove a gag order in his Manhattan hush money case preventing him from speaking freely about the court staff and prosecutors.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan barred the former president in March and April from commenting about personnel in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, their family members and court staff and their families.

He also forbade Trump from criticizing jurors and potential witnesses called in the case.

The former president was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal reimbursements to his former fixer Michael Cohen, who had paid off adult film star Stormy Daniels to silence her about a tryst she said she had with Trump in 2006. The former president denied the affair.

A jury convicted Trump on all counts in May, but not before the judge fined him $10,000 for violating the gag order 10 times.

After the conviction, the former president’s lawyers petitioned Merchan to lift the gag order, arguing that it infringed on his First Amendment rights and prevented him from defending himself against the criticism leveled by Daniels and Cohen in the heat of the 2024 presidential campaign.

Further, defense lawyers said that since the trial had concluded, the need for the gag order had been eliminated.

Merchan conceded the court no longer needed to protect the jury, who served anonymously, and the witnesses in the case, and lifted the order restraining Trump from speaking about them.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, in his motion opposing lifting the gag order, submitted affidavits from the NYPD’s Threat Assessment and Protection Unit asserting that there had been 56 threats to Bragg and his family during the months of April, May and June. Additionally, the prosecutor’s office received 500 threatening emails and phone calls since April, according to Sgt. Nicholas Pistilli, of the threat unit.

"The recent threat activity directly connected to [Trump’s] dangerous rhetoric about this prosecution includes bomb threats at the homes of two people involved in this case on April 15, 2024 — the first day of trial," prosecutor Matthew Colangelo wrote in opposition to lifting the order.

The address of a district attorney staff member involved in the case was posted online and investigators found additional internet posts depicting sniper sights on staff, the prosecutor said.

Other online posts have said, "We will kill you all," “[staff member] should be in witness protection," and "Your life is done."

In response to the motions, Merchan held that the upcoming sentencing hearing required him to keep the order protecting court staff, prosecutors and family members, saying they "must continue to perform their lawful duties free from threats, intimidation, harassment, and harm."

The appellate panel agreed.

"Accordingly, since the underlying criminal action remains pending, Justice Merchan did not act in excess of jurisdiction by maintaining the narrowly tailored protections," the five judges wrote in their opinion, noting the prosecution's supporting documentation.

The sentencing date for Trump is scheduled for Sept. 18, but lawyers for the former president are hoping to convince Merchan to put that off completely.

A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a separate criminal case against Trump found that the former president was immune from prosecution for official acts he performed while in office.

Trump’s defense lawyers have argued that evidence presented in the hush money case fell under that protection and should not have been shown to the jury.

Prosecutors have opposed the measure, saying the argument is "without merit."

Merchan has promised to render a decision on the immunity issue by Sept. 6, "if such is still necessary," he wrote in a brief response.