Donald Trump’s lawyers are seeking to appeal last week’s decision reinstating the gag orders in the former president’s civil fraud trial.
New York’s Appellate Division First Department vacated a temporary stay of the gag orders last week, and Trump’s lawyers are now seeking expedited leave to appeal the decision to New York’s Court of Appeals – the highest court in the New York State system.
Trump’s lawyers requested their application be reviewed by Judge David Friedman, who initially lifted the gag order on Nov. 16 before his decision was vacated by a panel of judges.
“Without expedited review, Petitioners will continue to suffer irreparable injury daily, as they are silenced on matters implicating the appearance of bias and impropriety on the bench during a trial of immense stakes,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in a new filing Monday morning.
In an emergency application for leave to appeal, Trump’s lawyers argued the gag orders “silence the core political speech of the leading Presidential candidate … at the height of President Trump’s campaign.”
Repeating past arguments against the gag order, Trump’s lawyers said the gag orders prohibit necessary speech to highlight the actions of Judge Arthur Engoron’s clerk, which they argue amount to “demonstrable partisan bias on the bench.”
“At stake is a civil defendant’s ability to critique, without fear of reprisal, the court presiding over a bench trial historic both by virtue of the parties thereto and the Attorney General’s novel and open manipulation of the Executive Law to punish her political enemies,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.
