Trump loses fight to lift gag order in his hush-money case, remains barred from bashing prosecutors

Donald Trump’s efforts to lift his gag order — and say just about whatever he'd like in regard to his hush-money trail — remain in vain. A panel of appeals judges on Thursday denied the former president’s attempt to rid himself of the remaining limitations imposed by Judge Juan Merchan’s gag order, Politico reported.

A five-judge panel wrote in a three-page decision that Trump’s “contention that the conclusion of trial constitutes a change in circumstances warranting termination of the remaining Restraining Order provision is unavailing.”

In late June, Merchan, who presided over Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial that found him guilty on 34 felony counts, lifted some of restrictions imposed by the gag order, allowing the Republican presidential nominee to publicly comment on witnesses and jurors involved in his trial. But he left a few constraints, barring Trump from communicating about prosecutors and others in the district attorney's office, for example.

The panel ultimately agreed with Merchan and decided that filings by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office “demonstrate that threats received by District Attorney staff after the jury verdict continued to pose a significant and imminent threat.”

The judges also noted that since Trump is yet to be sentenced — that's now set for Sep. 18 — providing Merchan good reason to keep a tight rein on the former president’s comments.