New York Appeals Court Judge David Friedman lifted trail court judge Arthur Engoron’s Oct. 4 gag order on 77-year-old former President Donald Trump, something applauded by Democrats and the liberal press, all hoping to see Atty. Gen. Letitia James win her civil fraud case against the Trump Organization. James seeks $250 million in damages plus to ban the Trump Organization for doing business in New York. James case against Trump alleges the real estate mogul inflated values of his real estate to obtain more favorable terms for lenders or deflated property values when it helped Trump get tax breaks. James sought testimony from Trump’s children, trying to show a pattern of corruption defrauding New York State and taxpayers. James has plenty of testimony for Trump’s detractors, especially 57-year-old former Trump disbarred personal Atty. Michael Cohen.
Engoron slapped Trump with a gag order after the former president criticized Engoron’s law clerk Allison Greenfield for biasing the trial with her Democrat Party affiliation. James went after Trump to fulfill a campaign promise to hold him accountable for a bunch of allegations made by Cohen and other disgruntled former Trump employees. James has conveniently ignored any number of other New York real estate developers who could have committed the exact same practices in managing real estate empires in New York. Getting Trump’s adult children to testify against him marks a new low in New York State Democrat politics, seeking any way possible to prevent Trump from running in 2024. Manhattan District Atty. Alvin Bragg did exactly the same thing dredging up a 2016 payout to adult film star Stormy Danies for an alleged affair she had with Trump in 2006.
During the 2016 campaign, Trump’s former “fixer” personal attorney Michael Cohen arranged to get Stormy Daniels paid $130,000 months before the Nov. 3, 2016 presidential election. Bragg’s charges allege Trump violated federal election laws, but, more importantly, paid hush money to keep Stormy Daniels silent before the election. Bragg campaigned in 2021 promising to prosecute Trump if elected Manhattan DA. Bragg complained that his predecessor, DA Cyrus Vance Jr., declined to prosecute Trump citing insufficient evidence. Bragg promptly disproved Vance’s theory, charging Trump with paying hush money to stop Daniels from going public with the alleged 2006 affair, 10 years before the Nov. 3, 2016 election. Bragg alleged that Trump paid Stormy Daniels off to buy her silence before the 2016 election. Trump denied Danel’s allegations of an affair in 2006
When it comes to Freidman ending Engoron’s Oct. 4 gag order against Trump, the appeals court judge saw no compelling reason for the order. Friedman said he saw no reason for Engoron to police Trump’s social network posts on his civil fraud trial. Trump’s attorney Alina Habba argued that the gag order violated Trump’s First Amendment Free rights, pointing out that James, in post-court appearances, often tells the press that Trump violated New York State laws. “I don’t see a reason for restrictions because Ms. Hames is continuing to disparage my client,” Habba said of Atty. Gen. Letiitia James. “Both sides need to be able to speak and the fact that I frankly couldn’t and my client couldn’t speak, for the past however many days, is so unconstitutional,” said Habba. Special Counsel Jack Smith has made disparaging comments about Trump publicly yet has threatened to go to Judge Tanya S. Chutkan and Judge Aileen Cannon for gag orders.
Smith said publicly after indicting Trump for classifed documents found in moving boxes at Trump’s Mar-a-lago estate that Trump endangered U.S. national security. What gives Smith the right to prejudice Trump’s due process by declaring Trump guilty of violating the Presidential Records Act or Espionage Act? Smith, Bragg and James have something in common. They want to comment about Trump’s cases while, at the same time, compromising Trump’s First Amendment rights. Habba contends that Engoron compromised Trump Free Speech rights by issuing a gag order. No Democrat or leading broadcast or print outlet have any concerns about Trump First Amendment rights. They certainly have no regard for Trump 14th Amendment’s right to due process by letting the press try-and-convict Trump in the court of public opinion before any opening statements.
Pulling Judge Enrogon’s gag order on Trump speaks volumes about what could eventually come of Trump’s many trials totally 91 felony charges. James and Bragg as so certain they have slam dunk cases against Trump when, in fact, they have very shaky cases. Trump Organization did nothing unusual adjusting appraised values either up or down for any advantages in lending or insurance. When it comes to Bragg’s case, why isn’t he prosecuting Stormy Daniels for extortio? Smith’s two cases involving Jan. 6 Capitol riots or Mar-a-Lago classified docs, both have undeniable flaws, knowing there’s no evidence that Trump participated in the Jan. 6 riots or knew about classified docs found in moving boxes in the Mar-a-Lago basement. Yet all prosecutors let the media advance their cases before going to trial and seek to gag Trump for defending himself on his Truth Special media platform.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
