Appellate judge rejects President Trump’s request to delay start of hush money trial to challenge gag order

new york
CNN
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An appeals court judge has denied former President Donald Trump’s request to delay the start of a hush money trial in New York to challenge a gag order imposed by Judge Juan Machan.

New York Associate Judge Cynthia Kahn denied the request for a temporary stay just minutes after hearing arguments on the issue Tuesday.

The appeals court panel will continue to consider Trump’s petition, but the start of the trial will not be delayed.

The motion will be filed Monday, when jury selection is scheduled to begin. The panel of judges will decide whether to suspend the trial after receiving the brief on that day, and is scheduled to make a decision on the gag order after the April 29 submission deadline.

The panel will make a decision based on the written document. Oral argument will not be held.

During arguments Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers asked an appeals court judge to halt the start of the trial so they could challenge Marchand’s gag order in the New York hush money case, and the former president denied his rights. He claimed that he had suffered irreparable harm from the infringing gag order. First Amendment Rights.

Trump’s lawyer, Emil Bove, said that while the former president’s comments may have been disrespectful, neither party said they rose to the level of incitement.

Marchan introduced a gag order ahead of the trial, barring Trump from commenting publicly about witnesses, court or district attorney officials. After President Trump went after Marchand’s daughter on social media, he extended the gag order to his own family.

Trump’s lawyers said Tuesday that scheduled witnesses in the case, Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels, routinely comment on the merits of the case, and that the gag order would unfairly prevent Trump from responding. He claimed that there was.

Bove said the gag order also prohibits Trump from commenting on publicly filed revocation motions related to Marchand’s daughter.

Trump’s lawyers should also be able to publicly discuss Matthew Colangelo, a former Justice Department prosecutor who is comparable to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is not protected by a gag order because Trump is a public figure. he claimed.

The district attorney’s office, which requested the gag order, argued that Trump has a history of making threatening statements in his own cases.

Stephen Wu, appellate director for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, said it is difficult to have “people who know the consequences of having their names in the press” testify as witnesses.

Wu said President Trump’s comments have already had an impact on the case, not just for those targeted, but for those who “understand that they themselves are vulnerable if they become involved in this case.” He claimed that it had a “significant deterrent effect”.

“What we’re talking about is the defendant’s uncontested history of making inflammatory, threatening and defamatory statements,” Wu said. “This is not a political discussion,” he added.

Mr. Wu said Mr. Trump cannot comment on the witnesses or their direct connection to the case or the allegations, but he is allowed to discuss his history with witnesses like Mr. Cohen. .

Mr. Trump’s lawyers argued that this was a narrow request, but Mr. Wu responded that Mr. Trump’s request was much broader and not grounds for derailing the trial.

“There is no basis to halt a criminal trial based on a challenge to a security order,” Wu said. “Regardless of the injunction they are asserting here, the criminal trial should proceed. That is very important to us.”

He also claimed that Trump’s lawyers waited two weeks after the gag order was first invoked, but are now invoking it a week before the trial is scheduled to begin.

Documents regarding the gag order have not been made public and are sealed.

President Trump also asked this week to postpone the trial so he could argue for a change of venue, but an appeals court judge denied that request on Monday.

This story has been updated with additional details and background information.