Donald Trump wants to take his fight over a gag order in his New York civil fraud case all the way to the state’s highest court, his attorney said Monday — as The Post learned the former president plans to attend a hearing in Manhattan later this week.
Trump, 77, asked for permission to rush his case to the New York Court of Appeals after a lower appeals court last week reinstated a limited reprimand order barring him and his lawyers from speaking publicly about the judge’s staff.
The request, filed Monday morning, was made during the 10th week of trials in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ $250 million lawsuit that threatens the real estate tycoon’s business empire.
Trump’s defense attorneys expect to finish their presentation next week — and the 45th president plans to appear in lower Manhattan court on Thursday to observe the proceedings, sources familiar with the case said.
His son, Eric Trump, is scheduled to testify for the second time at the hearing on Wednesday.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron — who decided the non-jury case — silenced Trump on the second day of the trial in October after the former president took aim at the judge’s chief law clerk, Allison Greenfield, on social media.
Donald Trump wants New York’s highest court to overturn a gag order in a civil fraud trial. AFP via Getty Images
Engoron then slapped the 2024 GOP presidential candidate with a total fine of $15,000, finding he had violated the order twice.
Trump appealed, claiming the gag order violated his right to free speech, and successfully argued for the ban to be temporarily lifted by intermediate appeals court judge David Friedman last month.
But a four-judge panel overturned Friedman’s decision two weeks later, on Nov. 30, and reinstated the gag order — prompting Trump to petition a higher court to overturn it.
In court papers on Monday, Trump’s lawyers argued that the order limited their and their clients’ speech, and denied them their First Amendment rights “to highlight serious concerns raised by the public and partisan activities” of Engoron’s lead law clerk during the court hearing. walking.
The gag order was implemented by trial Judge Arthur Engoron on the second day of the trial. Reuters
If the issue is not “expedited,” the Trump side “will continue to suffer irreparable injury every day, as they are silenced on matters involving the appearance of bias and impropriety on the bench during the high-stakes trial,” the lawyer wrote.
The Attorney General’s Office did not return a request for comment.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
