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Appeals court Justice David Friedman said the gag order would be
temporarily lifted.
"Considering the constitutional and statutory rights at issue,
an interim stay is granted," Friedman wrote in a filing.
Trump’s lawyers, who are also subject to the gag order, argued
that the former U.S. president is entitled to speak publicly
about the “perceived partisanship and bias” of the trial, where
he faces hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties and a
partial breakup of his real estate empire.
The judge overseeing the case, Justice Arthur Engoron, imposed
the limited gag order on Oct. 3 after Trump shared a post
attacking his top clerk on social media. He has fined Trump a
total of $15,000 for twice violating the order.
Alina Habba, Trump's attorney, said in a statement that she was
pleased to see the appellate court "restore some much needed
respect for constitutional rights" in what she called a
"political circus" orchestrated by New York Attorney General
Letitia James.
James' office did not seek the gag order, which Engoron imposed
on his own initiative.
James, an elected Democrat, accuses Trump, his two adult sons
and 10 of his businesses of inflating their assets by as much as
$2.2 billion to secure more favorable loan and insurance terms.
Engoron has already ruled that Trump provided lenders and
insurers with fraudulent financial statements and ordered the
dissolution of companies controlling crown jewels of his real
estate empire, including Trump Tower and 40 Wall Street in
Manhattan. The order is on hold pending Trump’s appeal.
The trial largely concerns damages. James is seeking at least
$250 million in penalties and a New York commercial real estate
ban against Trump and his sons Donald Jr. and Eric Trump.
The case is part of a maelstrom of legal troubles Trump faces as
he campaigns to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden in the
November 2024 election, though none have diminished his
commanding lead over Republican rivals.
He is under indictment in a total of four criminal cases,
including two related to his efforts to overturn his loss to
Biden in the 2020 election.
(Reporting by Jack Queen, Ismail Shakil, Katharine Jackson;
Editing by Caitlin Webber, Eric Beech and Daniel Wallis)
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