The U.S. Supreme Court declined to lift a gag order against President-elect Donald Trump.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the order, “The application for stay addressed to Justice Alito and referred to the Court is denied.”
Trump was put under a gag order earlier this year in the falsified business records case by Judge Juan Merchan. In June, the gag order was partially lifted, allowing Trump to speak freely about jurors and witnesses in the hush money criminal trial.
The restrictions on Trump’s speech were previously upheld by the New York Court of Appeals. The court said in September that “no substantial constitutional question is directly involved” in the gag order.
Last month, Merchan postponed sentencing in the case, originally scheduled for November 26.
“It is HEREBY ORDERED, that Defendant’s request for leave to file a motion to dismiss pursuant to Criminal Procedure Law … is GRANTED,” the court document reads, adding that it is further “ORDERED that the joint application for a stay of sentencing is GRANTED to the extent that the November 26, 2024 date is adjourned.”
Trump’s lawyers then filed a motion to dismiss the criminal charges, writing, “Wrongly continuing proceedings in this failed lawfare case disrupts President Trump’s transition efforts and his preparations to wield the full Article II executive power authorized by the Constitution pursuant to the overwhelming national mandate granted to him by the American people on November 5, 2024.”
“Local elected officials such as DA Bragg have no valid basis to cause such disruptions, which also violate the Supremacy Clause,” the attorneys added. “Consequently, the federal Constitution is an absolute ‘legal impediment’ to further proceedings, and the case must be immediately dismissed.”