
Appeals court denies Trump’s latest request to overturn hush money trial gag order
CNN
Donald Trump’s latest attempt to end the gag order against him in the hush money trial was denied by a New York appeals court on Tuesday.
Donald Trump’s latest attempt to end the gag order against him in the hush money trial was denied by a New York appeals court on Tuesday. “We find that Justice Merchan properly weighed petitioner’s First Amendment Rights against the court’s historical commitment to ensuring the fair administration of justice in criminal cases, and the right of persons related or tangentially related to the criminal proceedings from being free from threats, intimidation, harassment, and harm,” according to the order. Trump has long said that the gag order implemented by Judge Juan Merchan is unfair to him and should be lifted, especially since it means he is unable to respond to testimony from Stormy Daniels or Michael Cohen in public spheres. “You ask me questions I’m not allowed to respond,” Trump told reporters Tuesday morning before entering the criminal court and before the ruling was issued. “The gag order has to come off.” Merchan said the gag order is needed to prevent witnesses from being intimidated, especially given the high-profile nature of the trial and defendant. Tuesday, the appeals court agreed: “Justice Merchan properly determined that petitioner’s public statements posed a significant threat to the integrity of the testimony of witnesses and potential witnesses in this case as well.”

Botched Epstein redactions trace back to Virgin Islands’ 2020 civil racketeering case against estate
A botched redaction in the Epstein files revealed that government attorneys once accused his lawyers of paying over $400,000 to “young female models and actresses” to cover up his criminal activities

The Justice Department’s leadership asked career prosecutors in Florida Tuesday to volunteer over the “next several days” to help to redact the Epstein files, in the latest internal Trump administrationpush toward releasing the hundreds of thousands of photos, internal memos and other evidence around the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The US State Department on Tuesday imposed visa sanctions on a former top European Union official and employees of organizations that combat disinformation for alleged censorship – sharply ratcheting up the Trump administration’s fight against European regulations that have impacted digital platforms, far-right politicians and Trump allies, including Elon Musk.










