▶ Watch Video: Trump meets with probation officer ahead of sentencing New York’s highest court ruled Tuesday.
New York’s highest court ruled Tuesday that it will not consider former President Donald Trump’s challenge to a gag order in the criminal case in which he was recently convicted of 34 felony counts.
The Court of Appeals wrote in a one-sentence decision that the appeal was dismissed “upon the ground that no substantial constitutional question is directly involved.”
Justice Juan Merchan issued the gag order March 26, barring Trump from making public comments about witnesses, jurors, court and prosecutor staff, and the relatives of any counsel or court staffer. He later updated the order to include members of his own family.
Merchan cited statements made by Trump about people involved in the case as “threatening, inflammatory, [and] denigrating.”
Trump violated the gag order 10 times before and during the trial, where he faced charges of falsifying business records. Trump was found guilty of signing off on a scheme to cover up reimbursements for a “hush money” payment to an adult film star made days before the 2016 presidential election, in order to prevent voters from learning of her allegations.
