A New York appeals court on Thursday lifted a gag order preventing Donald Trump from commenting on court staff during his fraud trial.
The trial judge imposed the order last month and fined the former US president $15,000 for violating the order after Trump made disparaging comments about a judicial official on social media.
In his decision, appeals court Judge David Friedman invoked constitutional concerns about restricting Trump’s free speech and ordered the suspension of the gag order, allowing the former president to freely comment on court officials while being held. conduct a broader appeals process.
Trump’s lawyers sued trial Judge Arthur Engoron on Wednesday, challenging the gag order, which they called an abuse of power.
Friedman scheduled an emergency hearing for this afternoon at a courthouse located a few miles from where Trump’s trial is taking place.
Trump’s defense alleged that a judicial employee was exerting undue influence, targeting Allison Greenfield, a former Democratic judicial candidate, accusing her of being a partisan voice with Judge Arthur Engoron – even though he himself is a Democrat – and of playing too important a role. in the process involving the former president.
Engoron defended Greenfield’s role in the courtroom, ordering those involved in the trial not to comment to court officials and fining Trump $15,000 for what the judge considered violations, while barring attorneys. in the process comment on your “confidential communications” with your employees.
Trump’s lawyers, who requested a mistrial Wednesday, argue that Engoron’s orders unconstitutionally suppress free speech, not any free speech.
“Constitutional protection reaches its peak when the speech in question is political speech, by the Republican candidate for the presidential nomination in 2024, taking into account the perception of partisanship and prejudice in a trial in which he is subject to hundreds of millions of dollars in sanctions and the threat of a ban on his legitimate businesses in the state,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in the petition.
Source: TSF
