Appeals court rejects Trump’s attempt to throw out gag order in hush money trial

Donald Trump has failed to overturn a gag order that blocks him from publicly attacking witnesses and jurors during his criminal hush money trial in New York.

On Tuesday, a New York appeals court rejected Mr Trump’s request to throw out the gag order saying Justice Juan Merchan “properly determined that petitioner’s public statements posed a significant threat to the integrity of the testimony of witnesses and potential witnesses”

Last week, lawyers for the former president filed a motion asking a state appeals court to quickly issue a ruling on his challenge, or to get permission to appeal to the state’s highest appeals court.

That motion followed a ruling from the trial judge that warned Mr Trump could be jailed for any future violations of the gag order, which he was already found to have violated 10 times within the trial’s first few weeks.

A state appeals court had already rejected Mr Trump’s attempt to stall the trial completely while he challenged the constitutionality of the gag order.

The court also previously shot down his attempt to stop the court from enforcing it.

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