[Source: Reuters]

New York’s top court on Thursday upheld a judge’s gag order on Donald Trump in the case in which the former U.S. president was convicted on criminal charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star.

Trump, the Republican nominee in the Nov. 5 presidential election, had argued that Justice Juan Merchan’s restrictions on his ability to speak publicly about court staff and individual prosecutors violated his right to free speech as guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The New York state Court of Appeals did not agree. The court said on Thursday it was dismissing Trump’s appeal because “no substantial constitutional question is directly involved.”

Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump’s campaign, said Trump would “continue to fight against the unconstitutional Witch Hunts and Gag Orders.”

Trump also faces a gag order in an unrelated federal criminal case in Washington, D.C. over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democratic President Joe Biden. He has pleaded not guilty in that case.