The New York State Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Donald Trump’s appeal of the silence order after the former president separately pressured Judge Juan Merchan to end the order.
In his pending motion in court, Trump argues that the order, which he opposed from the start, should end now that his trial is over. He was found guilty last month of all 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. His sentencing is set for July 11.
Merchan previously found that Trump violated the order ten times, which the judge imposed to protect the integrity of the criminal process. It prohibits Trump from speaking out against witnesses, jurors, lawyers and court staff and their families.
Trump complained in his motion to Merchan that it is unfair that witnesses such as Michael Cohen and Trump are put on trial Stormy Daniels can speak about Trump, but not them, and he claims President Joe Biden wants to take advantage of the gag order’s restrictions, including during their June 27 presidential debate.
There is an argument that the silence order could at least work differently now that the trial has concluded, but whether and to what extent this is the case has yet to be decided by Merchan.
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This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
