An appeals court in New York has denied requests from the Trump team for leave — meaning essentially permission — to further appeal gag orders from Judge Arthur Engoron to the highest court in New York’s judicial system. Engoron issued the disputed orders in the context of the civil case against Donald Trump, multiple family members of his, and others from state Attorney General Letitia James, who alleged a years-long pattern of fraud.
The restrictions on commentary most notably for Trump were spurred by the former president having targeted a clerk for Engoron on social media. The court faced threats in tandem with its handling of the case against the Trumps and the ex-president’s public antagonism. Prior arguments filed with the mid-level appeals court hearing the dispute over whether Trump could bump his complaints to a higher level contested that the procedural mechanisms were actually established in law allowing Trump to make the additional appeals he wanted, and this court evidently agreed.
“And petitioners having moved for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeals from the aforesaid order this Court, entered on November 30, 2023, and for expedited resolution of the petition,” the denial of Trump says. “Now, upon reading and filing the papers with respect to the motion, and due deliberation having been had thereon, It is ordered that the motion for leave to appeal is denied.”
Besides having previously allowed the gag order against Trump to remain in effect while arguments were considered, this court has now also issued a more conclusive ruling upholding it. The order was active when Trump was originally on track to testify as trial drew to a close, which the former president ended up not doing, though he testified earlier during initial presentations from state authorities. It’s unclear at this point whether Trump could still challenge his gag order from Engoron elsewhere through other legal pathways or if he’d even be motivated to pursue such a reversal, considering trial is over.
