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An appellate judge in New York suspended a gag order that was placed on President Donald Trump in the civil fraud suit that has been brought by New York State Attorney General Letitia James.
President Trump announced the stay on the gag order on Truth Social, writing, “Judge Arthur Engoron has just been overturned (stayed!) by the New York State Appellate Division (Appeals Court), for the 4th TIME (on the same case!)”
According to the Associated Press, appellate Judge David Friedman stayed the preexisting gag order, citing concerns about the president’s free speech rights outside the courtroom.
Trump wrote of the initial gag order, “His [Judge Engoron] Ridiculous and Unconstitutional Gag Order, not allowing me to defend myself against him and his politically biased and out of control, Trump Hating Clerk, who is sinking him and his Court to new levels of LOW, is a disgrace.”
Per The New York Times, Judge Friedman’s decision to stay the gag order from Judge Engoron came after oral arguments from President Trump’s lawyers in the Appeals Court. The suspension is temporary and could be reimplemented at a later time, depending on the decision of an appellate panel, the outlet confirmed.
On Truth Social, President Trump warned that Judge Engoron’s case in New York would “keep BUSINESSES and JOBS forever out of New York State.”
In the civil fraud suit, AG James has alleged that Trump overinflated his financial statements. His children, Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump, have all recently testified in the case.
Trump has firmly argued that he did “NOTHING WRONG” and hammered the trial as it has been drawn out in New York. “This wicked attack on Democracy must be ended, NOW!” he wrote.
This week, President Trump’s legal team filed a motion for a mistrial, slamming the previously-imposed gag order and scorching “the Court’s bias” on the part of AG James, Judge Arthur Engoron, and the Principal Law Clerk.
