The gag order against former President Donald Trump in his New York fraud case is no longer on hold after an appeals court reinstated it on Thursday.

The First Judicial Department of the Appellate Division for the Supreme Court of New York issued this order, overturning an earlier decision that temporarily lifted Justice Arthur Engoron’s initial gag order on Trump. This order prohibited Trump from making public statements about his law clerk, Allison Greenfield.

Per Breitbart News, four justices – presiding Justice Sallie Manzanet Daniels and Associate Justices Ellen Gesmer, Saliann Scarpulla, and Llinét M. Rosado – jointly issued this decision.
The reason cited for this reinstatement was the perceived necessity due to a ‘deluge’ of threats directed at Greenfield after Trump had criticized her on social media platforms.
Judge Arthur Engoron initially issued the gag order in early October after Trump posted a screenshot on Twitter showing Greenfield alongside Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

Trump, in his post, had referred to her as “Schumer’s girlfriend” and implied that she was orchestrating the case against him, calling for its dismissal.

On Oct. 20, Engoron fined the former president $5,000 for violating the order on social media. Five days later, he was slammed with another $10,000 fine, with a warning of potential imprisonment for further violations.

Trump had a temporary reprieve on Nov. 16 when appeals court Judge David Friedman issued a stay on Engoron’s gag order, citing concerns that it could infringe on the GOP front runner’s First Amendment rights.

The entire case is built on accusations of business fraud leveled against Trump by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Engoron’s prior ruling in September found both Trump and his company guilty of fraud by misrepresenting their assets and inflating their net worth in financial documents, misleading banks, insurers, and other parties in business transactions.

But Trump, who has called the lawsuit a “disgrace” and an attack on his business, family and political attempt, has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

“There was no victim here — the banks were represented by the best, biggest, most prestigious law firms in the state of New York — actually in the country, some of the biggest law firms. The banks got back their money, there was never a default, it was never a problem, everything was perfect. There was no crime,” he said.