Journalist Stewart Bishop with Law360 shared online this Monday afternoon that an appeals court judge in New York had denied a request originating with Trump’s team for a quicker appeals process around the gag order limiting the former president’s public remarks in a case from Letitia James. Trump had been seeking to go before the highest state court in New York.
The case from James, which is currently moving through trial in front of New York Judge Arthur Engoron, accuses Trump and figures close to him including multiple family members of a years-long pattern of fraud hinging on misrepresented values for key assets. The gag order, meanwhile, blocks public commentary most prominently from Trump related to court staff, a set of restrictions that originated after the ex-president publicly singled out a clerk for Engoron, accusing this individual of ill-defined corruption. Authorities have drawn a connection between Trump’s public outbursts and threats faced by the court.
The Trump team had characteristically claimed there to be serious stakes in the continuing restrictions on the ex-president’s public remarks, pointing again to his candidacy for the White House. While president previously, Trump tried to use legal stature associated with his position to avoid certain threats of legal consequence… and now, in both this case and elsewhere, he’s been pointing to either the fact that he’s running for president or his previous holding of the office, the latter of which supposedly conferred wide-ranging immunity.
The Trump team tried to apply this claimed immunity amid civil litigation alleging he bears responsibility for the 2021 Capitol attack and the criminal case brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith over Trump’s 2020 election schemes. Both avenues of argument are presently failing. “Ok, a appeals court judge has denied Trump’s request for leave to bring this dispute immediately to the Court of Appeals, saying a full panel of judges has to make that determination,” Bishop said online. “Trump’s bid to expedite and escalate the efforts to overturn his gag order to the state’s highest court has been DENIED. The gag order will remain in place at least through Trump’s anticipated testimony on Monday,” journalist Adam Klasfeld continued.
