Don’t Let Kamala Harris’ ‘I’m Speaking’ Debate Trick Fool You
Trump fought censorship and gag orders to get his message through. Harris, on the other hand, has had four years in the White House to yap.
A New York appeals court on Thursday rejected a motion from Donald Trump's legal team to remove the remainder of Manhattan Judge Juan Merchan's gag order against the former president.
Trump's attorneys have made repeated requests to have the restrictive order lifted, claiming that it has muzzled the Republican presidential candidate amid an ongoing election campaign.
'Continued to pose a significant and imminent threat.'
When initially instituted, Merchan's gag order prohibited Trump from making public remarks about anyone involved in the New York criminal trial or their family members.
In May, the New York City panel of jurors found Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records — charges filed by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D).
Following the verdict, Merchan partially lifted the gag order in late June, freeing Trump to discuss any of the witnesses in the case publicly but still prohibiting him from talking about staff or family members.
Trump was slated to face sentencing last month, but the Supreme Court's recent presidential immunity ruling prompted his attorneys to file a motion to overturn the jury's conviction. Trump's legal team has argued that some of the evidence used by the prosecution to secure the guilty verdict constituted official acts during his presidency.
In response to the motion, Merchan agreed to postpone sentencing while he reviews whether the Supreme Court's determination — which found that presidents have absolute immunity for actions within their "conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority" and presumptive immunity for all official acts — would impact the New York case.
Merchan stated that he would make a determination by September 6 and that sentencing could be delayed until September 18. Trump is facing a maximum of four years in prison. The New York case was one of four criminal indictments filed against the former president.
On Thursday, a New York appeals court ruled on Trump's request to remove the rest of Merchan's gag order. It denied the motion, stating that the end of the trial did not constitute "a change in circumstances” and that "fair administration of justice necessarily includes sentencing."
The court claimed that lifting the gag order against Trump, who recently survived an assassination attempt, would “pose a significant and imminent threat,” citing alleged threats made against the DA office’s staff after the verdict was read. No reports claim that any staff have been harmed stemming from the alleged intimidation attempts.
The appeals court wrote, "Contrary to petitioner's contentions, the People's evidentiary submissions in opposition to his motion in Supreme Court demonstrate that threats received by District Attorney staff after the jury verdict continued to pose a significant and imminent threat."
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On Tuesday, Manhattan Judge Juan Merchan lifted part of his gag order against Donald Trump, allowing the former president to make public remarks about the witnesses in the New York trial.
Trump is still prohibited from speaking about the staff and families of Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, theNew York Post reported.
'Blatantly un-American.'
Trump's legal team has repeatedly requested that Merchan lift the restrictive gag order, arguing that it would impede Trump's speech during the upcoming presidential debate with Joe Biden on Thursday evening. Merchan previously rejected multiple attempts during the trial to get the order lifted, claiming that it protected those involved in the case.
In May, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records filed against the former president by Bragg. The jurors' verdict was based on the testimony of witnesses including porn actress Stormy Daniels and former Trump attorney Michael Cohen.
Throughout the trial, Cohen frequently publicly criticized Trump on social media, while the former president was prohibited from defending himself due to Merchan's gag order. At one point, Trump's attorneys also asked for a gag order to be placed on Cohen, but the judge rejected that request as well.
The order against Trump still bars him from criticizing Merchan's daughter, Loren, who works at a progressive political consulting firm. Additionally, Trump cannot speak about Bragg's team, including one of his lead prosecutors, Matthew Colangelo, who previously held a senior role in the Biden administration's Department of Justice before effectively accepting a demotion to join the Manhattan DA's office.
Trump was fined $10,000 during the trial after Merchan ruled that he violated the gag order 10 times.
Last week, New York's highest court, the New York State Court of Appeals, declined to hear an appeal from Trump's attorneys, who argued that the gag order restricts his "core political speech on matters of central importance at the height of his Presidential campaign" and "violates the fundamental right of every American voter to hear from the leading candidate for President,"Blaze News previously reported. The court wrote in its rejection that "no substantial constitutional question is directly involved."
Trump is slated to be sentenced in the New York case on July 11. His attorneys have stated they plan to appeal the jury's guilty verdict.
On Tuesday, Steven Cheung, Trump's campaign spokesperson, called Merchan a "highly conflicted judge" who made "another unlawful decision" that is "blatantly un-American as it gags President Trump, the leading candidate in the 2024 presidential election during the upcoming presidential debate."
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