>A New York appeals court on Thursday denied former President Donald Trump's bid to dismiss the partial gag order against him in his criminal case. >Trump had argued the gag order was unnecessary and should be dismissed after his conviction in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels in the closing days of the 2016 campaign. >A five-judge panel of the state Appellate Division, a mid-level appeals court, disagreed. It backed a ruling by Judge Juan Merchan that the order should remain in place until sentencing, which the judges called “a critical stage of the criminal proceeding,” or until the case is otherwise disposed of. . . [Archive](https://archive.today/UOuuz)