- Dennis Fan, an assistant solicitor general, argued Trump’s comments about a court staffer were “baseless” and “highly inappropriate,” so they should be restricted by a gag order.
- Trump appealed the gag order by arguing the First Amendment guarantees his right to criticize the case against him while campaigning for president.
Donald Trump’s complaints about a clerk in his New York civil fraud trial are “baseless” and “highly inappropriate,” so a gag order restricting his comments about court staffers should be reinstated, according to a lawyer on state Attorney General Letitia James’ staff.
Dennis Fan, the senior assistant solicitor general in James’ office, argued Wednesday in an appellate court filing that the former president’s repeated comments about the clerk were unwarranted and that Trump was unlikely to overturn the gag order.
Trump made “highly inappropriate, and personally identifying attacks against the court’s principal law clerk,” Fan said in his affidavit. “Each of these orders properly imposed exceedingly limited restraints on speech to protect the safety of the court’s staff and preserve the orderly administration of the trial.”
Trump’s ability to make public comments in his cases have caused thorny legal battles as the courts navigate the unprecedented nature of having a leading presidential candidate on trial. Trump has appealed gag orders in two cases: the New York fraud trial and the pending federal election conspiracy trial. Georgia prosecutors sought…
