Representative Elise Stefanik declared victory after a New York appeals court sided with her argument in favor of former President Donald Trump.
A New York appeals court temporarily lifted the gag order on Trump and his attorneys after a complaint filed by Stefanik.
The gag order sought to prevent Trump and his team from talking about the trial judge’s staff and their potential biases.
“I am pleased to see that after my ethics complaint to the New York Commission on Judicial Conduct against Manhattan Judge Arthur Engoron, an appellate court has lifted the unconstitutional gag order against President Trump,” Stefanik’s statement on X said.
Stefanik filed the judicial ethics complaint last week against Engoron, claiming he showed “inappropriate bias and judicial intemperance” and called for his resignation.
In her complaint, she stated, “We must fight to protect all defendants’ First Amendment and due-process rights,” arguing that the issue was “so much bigger” than Trump.
“If Democrats can do this to a billionaire, former President, and leading presidential candidate, just imagine what they can do to the rest of us,” she said. “That’s why I filed my ethics complaint against Judge Engoron, and I will continue to fight for all New Yorkers.”
Trump Team Files Emergency Suit
Trump’s legal team filed its own emergency action against the gag orders, claiming the “cast serious doubt” on Engoron’s ability to be an “impartial finder of fact” while handling Trump’s case.
His team requested an interim stay on the gag orders and the sanctions that would result as a violation of them.
On Thursday the appeals judge agreed with both Stefanik and Trump’s legal team, stating in his decision that the gag orders restricted Trump’s free speech.
The ruling means Trump is now free to (continue to) comment on Engoron’s staff, namely the judge’s principal law clerk who has been the subject of Trump’s criticism in the past.
