Trump loses bid to delay hush money trial while he fights gag order

A New York appeals judge on Tuesday knocked down yet another long-shot bid by Donald Trump to delay his criminal hush money trial, this time by seeking a pause while he challenges his court-imposed gag order.

The swift rejection marked Trump’s second failed attempt in less than 24 hours to postpone the Manhattan Supreme Court trial, which is set to begin jury selection in six days.

Appellate Judge Cynthia Kern’s ruling Tuesday afternoon came within an hour of a hearing where lawyers for Trump and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg argued over the restrictions on the former president’s speech, NBC News reported.

The gag order bars Trump from speaking about likely witnesses in the case, and from making certain statements about other related figures including lawyers, court staff and their respective family members. Presiding Judge Juan Merchan last week expanded the gag order to stop Trump from targeting the family members of the judge and the D.A.

Defense lawyer Emil Bove argued in Tuesday’s hearing that Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is being unfairly restricted from speaking about witnesses such as porn star Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney.

Those witnesses are publicly attacking Trump and he is unable to respond, Bove told the judge, according to NBC. He also argued that Trump should be able to voice concerns about Matthew Colangelo, a prosecutor working for Bragg who previously worked for the Department of Justice.

Steven Wu, who spoke for the D.A., urged Kern to reject Trump’s bid for a delay. Wu argued that the gag order is narrow and that it is not meant to prevent political speech but to protect against Trump’s personal attacks on people involved in the case.

Kern denied Trump’s motion for a delay in a one-sentence ruling. The motion will now be heard by a five-member panel of appeals court judges on Monday, the same day as the start of the hush money trial.

Trump is charged with falsifying business records to conceal a payment to Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election, which he would go on to win against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Trump has pleaded not guilty.

On Monday, another appellate judge denied a request by Trump to pause the trial while he seeks to move the case out of Manhattan Supreme Court.

That request and the one rejected Tuesday both stemmed from a last-minute appeal filed Monday to the New York appellate court. The appeal uses a legal procedure known as Article 78, which allows a person to challenge decisions made by state officials or certain actions by a judge.

Trump’s attorneys are also trying for a second time to get Merchan to recuse himself from the trial, arguing that the judge’s daughter’s work for a Democratic political consultant creates an appearance of impropriety.

Bragg, in a fiery court filing Monday, blasted that request as a bid to “end-run” Merchan’s gag order, which was expanded after Trump repeatedly targeted the judge’s daughter on social media.

Merchan last year denied a similar request to recuse himself.