NEW YORK: A New York stateappealscourtonThursday denied Donald Trump`s bid to overturn a gag order restricting the former US president from publicly talking about court staff in his New York civil fraud trial.

The judge overseeing the case, Justice Arthur Engoron, issued the gag order on Oct 3 after the former US president shared on social media a photo of the judge`s law clerk posing with US Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, and falsely called her Schumer`s girlfriend`.

The post left the court `inundated` with hundreds of threats made by Trump supporters, Engoron said.

Trump appealed the order last month, arguing it violated his constitutional right to free speech.

On Thursday, the mid-level state appeals court, known as the Appellate Division, said the gag order did not have a major impact.

`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 order read.

Testimony concluded on Wednesday in the trial over a lawsuit brought by the New York attorney general seeking to fine Trump at least $250 million and sharply curtail his ability to do business in New York home to several of his iconic properties for lying about his net worth to dupe lenders.

The Appellate Division later on Thursday rejected Trump`s request for permission to appeal the reinstatement of the order to the Court of Appeals, New York`s highest court. Engoron fined Trump a total of $15,000 for twice violating the order. -Reuters