The Daily Fuckup

A New York appeals court on Tuesday denied Donald Trump’s bid to lift the gag order imposed in the hush-money case, leaving the restraining order in place as Michael Cohen continued testifying in the Manhattan trial.

The Appellate Division’s ruling rejected Trump’s challenge to the order issued by Justice Juan M. Merchan. The court said the restrictions were justified by the need to protect the integrity of the proceeding and the people connected to it, including witnesses and others tangentially tied to the case.

The decision kept in place limits on Trump’s public attacks on certain participants in the trial. The order has been central to repeated fights over how much Trump can say about the judge, witnesses and others involved in the case.

Cohen’s testimony continued the same day, keeping the prosecution’s key witness in the spotlight as prosecutors worked through their case over the hush-money payment and the bookkeeping records they say were used to hide it. Cohen is expected to remain a major part of that narrative because of his role in the events at issue and his cooperation with investigators.

The ruling and the testimony landed on the same day, preserving the basic shape of the trial: the court enforcing its limits on Trump’s speech while prosecutors pressed ahead with evidence they say ties the payments and records to the former president’s campaign-year conduct.