The attempt to silence Trump

 Fox News:

A New York appeals court on Tuesday kept in place a gag order on former President Trump, who asked the court to lift the ban on his speech after the recent guilty verdict in his unprecedented criminal trial.

Now that the trial has concluded and the former president and presumptive GOP nominee in the 2024 presidential election awaits sentencing next month, a legal expert says the gag order, which Judge Juan Merhcan has refused to lift, is "untethered from any compelling rationale."

"You have a local New York judge effectively limiting what the leading presidential candidate can say in the months leading up to an election," Jonathan Turley, practicing defense attorney and law professor, told Fox News Digital.

Turley noted that appellate courts are generally "highly deferential" to courtroom management-type issues like the imposition and continuation of gag orders, but he said it is "deeply concerning that Judge Merchan would continue a gag order long after the verdict has been reached and the jury dismissed the case."

"Putting aside the questionable value of the continuation of the gag order, in this case, Judge Merchan is ignoring the countervailing cost for the political system," Turley added.

The New York Court of Appeals on Tuesday rejected Trump’s bid to have the gag order against him lifted, citing that "no substantial constitutional question is directly involved."

Trump's lawyers cited the November presidential election and the first debate against President Biden later this month, as well as the First Amendment rights of the former president and his supporters, as reasons for the order to be lifted.
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I think there is a First Amendment issue in the attempt to stop a candidate for office from speaking.  It may take the Supreme Court to rectify this situation.  What I see is a Democrat judge in a Democrat-controlled state trying to help Biden by keeping his opponent from campaigning.

See also:

Joe Biden’s 2022 Vow to Use Constitution to Block Trump Sparked Eruption of Lawfare Linked to White House

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And:

X:

 Lee Zeldin:

Lee Zeldin

@LeeMZeldin

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2h

There is no greater threat against democracy in America today than Joe Biden and his allies trying to imprison Donald Trump, bankrupt him and his family, and remove Trump's name from the ballot altogether.

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 Biden’s astonishing pledge to use constitutional means to block Trump’s reelection and not defeat him at the ballot box appears to have set in motion efforts across the country. His vow directly predated a flurry of legal activity, with the three critical developments taking place on November 18 – only nine days after Biden’s call to block Trump’s reelection.

The significance of the three events alone and the timeline that followed strongly suggest a coordination of efforts by the Biden White House, which resulted in Trump being charged in Manhattan, Florida, DC, and Atlanta

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