New York's appeals court has once again upheld a gag order that prohibits former President Donald Trump from making any remarks about court personnel involved in his civil fraud trial. The court ruled on Thursday that Trump's legal team had utilized the wrong legal mechanism in challenging the restriction.

The four-judge panel in the mid-level appellate court deemed that Trump's lawyers erred by suing trial Judge Arthur Engoron, who had imposed the gag order in October after Trump made disparaging comments about his law clerk. Instead, the appellate judges stated that Trump's legal team should have followed the standard appeals process: first, requesting Engoron to reverse the gag order and then, if denied, escalating the fight in a higher court.

Christopher Kise, Trump's lawyer, expressed disappointment with the decision, claiming that it denies his client "the only path available to expedited relief and places his fundamental constitutional rights in a procedural purgatory."

The appeals court ruling comes shortly after the conclusion of testimony in the 2½-month trial brought forward by New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit. Closing arguments are scheduled for January 11th, and Engoron aims to deliver a verdict by the end of the month.

In objection to the gag order, Trump's legal team had sued Engoron last month, arguing that it constituted an abuse of power. They invoked a state law called Article 78, which permits lawsuits challenging certain judicial decisions.

However, the four-judge panel determined that Trump's gag order could not be challenged using this approach, citing a precedent set by the state's highest court which categorized such lawsuits as an "extraordinary remedy."

The panel stated, "Here, the gravity of potential harm is small, given that the Gag Order is narrow, limited to prohibiting solely statements regarding the court's staff."

The gag order was initially imposed on October 3rd by Engoron after Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, made a derogatory comment targeting the judge's law clerk on social media. The comment, which included an unfounded allegation about the clerk's personal life, was posted on the second day of the trial.

Judge David Friedman of the appeals court temporarily suspended the gag order on November 16th, citing concerns related to the Constitution and relevant statutes. However, a four-judge panel reinstated the order on November 30th.

During the early weeks of the trial, Engoron fined Trump $15,000 for violating the gag order. The judge later expanded the order's coverage to include lawyers after Trump's legal team questioned the law clerk's prominent role in the proceedings.

State lawyers voiced their support for the restriction, asserting that it was a reasonable measure to protect Engoron's staff. A lawyer representing the court system connected Trump's comments to an increase in alarming calls and messages directed at both the judge and the law clerk.

The outcome of the trial remains to be determined, with Trump's real estate empire at stake.