Judge rejects latest Trump attempt to delay New York criminal trial

Driving the news: Trump's lawyers sought the delay to allow a panel of appellate court judges to hear arguments on his gag order, which the former president's team argues violates his free speech rights.

• "The First Amendment harms arising from this gag order right now are irreparable," Trump lawyer Emil Bove said at the Tuesday hearing, per the Associated Press.
• Steven Wu, the appellate chief for the Manhattan DA's office, said that the gag order is warranted because there is "public interest in protecting the integrity of the trial."
• "This is not political debate. These are insults," Wu said, per AP.

State of play: Juan M. Merchan, the judge overseeing the case, issued a partial gag order over Trump late last month barring him from commenting on witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors.

• Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, has frequently sought to delay proceedings in his four criminal indictments until after the election.

• An appeals court on Monday also denied a separate bid to delay the trial, with Trump's legal team arguing that it should be postponed to find a new venue outside of Manhattan.

What to watch: Trump's pair of court losses this week paves the way for his New York criminal trial to begin as planned on Monday.

• Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the case.

Go deeper: Trump's trio of court losses

Editor's note: This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.