NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Supreme Court declined to hear Tuesday Donald Trump‘s silence order in his hush money case, with the restrictions remaining in place after his felony conviction last month. The Court of Appeal found that the order did not raise “substantial” constitutional issues warranting immediate intervention.
The decision is the latest legal setback for the Republican former president, who has repeatedly criticized the gag order, which prevents him from commenting on witnesses, jurors and others involved in the case. But it may be short-lived. The judge, Juan M. Merchan, is expected to rule soon on a defense request to lift the gag order.
Trump’s lawyers filed an appeal with the state Supreme Court on May 15, during the former president’s historic criminal trial. They argued that the gag order limited Trump’s “core political speech on matters of central importance at the height of his presidential campaign.”
But the Court of Appeal disagreed. In a decision docket released Tuesday, the court said it would not hear the case automatically, writing that “there is no substantial constitutional issue.”
Trump’s lawyers were essentially looking for a shortcut to expedite their appeal, which was rejected last month by the state’s mid-level appeals court. According to court spokesman Gary Spencer, they now have thirty days to file a request to appeal.
Merchan imposed the silence order on March 26, a few weeks before the start of the trial, after prosecutors raised concerns about the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s tendency to attack people involved in his cases.
During the trial, Merchan held Trump in contempt of court and fined him $10,000 for violating the gag order. The judge threatened to jail Trump if he did it again.
The order remains in effect weeks after the conclusion of the trial, which ended with Trump’s conviction on 34 counts of falsifying company records stemming from what prosecutors say was an attempt to collect a hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels just before the to cover up the 2016 elections. . Daniels claims she had a sexual encounter with Trump ten years earlier, which he denies. He will be sentenced on July 11.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office had urged the Court of Appeals to dismiss the appeal. In their own letter, prosecutors noted that the question of whether the order should be revoked could be resolved through court filings.
Trump’s lawyers have argued that he should have the right to hear the case fully, given continued public criticism of him by his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen and Daniels, both key witnesses for the prosecution.
Days after the ruling, they sent a letter to Merchan requesting that the gag order be lifted. They followed up last week with a formal motion calling for the restrictions to be revoked. Prosecutors have until Thursday to respond. Merchan is expected to rule shortly afterward, possibly before Trump’s June 27 debate with President Joe Biden.
“It’s a bit of a theater of the absurd at the moment, isn’t it? Michael Cohen is no longer a witness in this trial,” Trump attorney Todd Blanche told the AP earlier this month. “The process is over.”
Messages seeking comment were left Tuesday for Blanche and the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
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AP writer Michael Hill contributed reporting from Altamont, NY
