The legal attacks on Trump have always been about silencing him. But his prosecutors have another thing coming.
Because Trump just secured a major win in appeals court that has everyone on the Left crying like babies.
An appeal judge who temporarily halted the gag order in Donald Trump’s New York civil fraud case on Thursday expressed worry that the restriction violated the former president’s right to free expression after Trump publicly insulted a crucial court employee.
As the appeals process continues, Judge David Friedman of the state’s appeals court ordered a stay, temporarily lifting the gag order and enabling Trump to speak freely about the court process.
Trump’s attorneys and anybody participating in the lawsuit are likewise bound by Friedman’s decision.
Trial judge Arthur Engoron ordered Trump to keep quiet after the former president made a derogatory social media remark against Engoron’s court clerk on the second day of the trial, October 2nd.
After Trump and his attorneys questioned the clerk’s authoritative presence in court, Engoron fined the president $15,000 for infractions and extended the injunction to cover the whole courtroom.
In light of Trump’s numerous complaints about the proceedings on social media and in statements to the media in the courthouse corridor, Friedman questioned Engoron’s jurisdiction to monitor Trump’s speech outside the courtroom.
He admitted that judges frequently issue gag orders, but said that this was typically the case in criminal cases when it was feared that discussing the matter may sway the court’s jury.
Late on Wednesday, Trump’s legal team sued Engoron, arguing that the gag order was an abuse of authority.
On Thursday afternoon, Friedman arranged for an urgent hearing to take place at a conference table at the state appeal courts just a few miles away from the actual trial site.
After Judge Friedman issued his ruling, Trump attorney Alina Habba made it clear that she had no intention of advising the former president to keep quiet about the clerk.
“I don’t see a reason for restrictions because Ms. James is continuing to disparage my client,” Habba said, referring to the Attorney General Letitia James who is the mind behind this case against Trump.
According to Habba, Trump has not made any threats against anyone in the court case.
To prevent communication between the two parties is “so unconstitutional,” Habba said, “and the fact that I, frankly, couldn’t and my client couldn’t speak, for the past however many days, is so unconstitutional.”
Throughout the trial, Trump and his legal team have focused their attention on the law clerk, Allison Greenfield. They say that the former Democrat judicial candidate is an operative in Judge Arthur Engoron’s ear — though he too is a Democrat — and that she has taken on too significant of a part in the legal matter involving the former Republican president.
Engoron has responded by defending her job as a judge, issuing an order that all trial participants refrain from speaking negatively about court personnel, and fining Trump a total of $15,000 for infractions.
In addition, this Monday Engoron forbade the lawyers representing either side from discussing “confidential communications” between himself and his staff.
Trump’s attorneys, who separately requested a mistrial on Wednesday, argue that Engoron’s directives violate the First Amendment because they limit political expression.
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
