An appellate court judge has denied Donald Trump’s requests to halt his hush money trial, according to ABC News. Trump’s legal team had requested that New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan be recused, and for a stay of proceedings. Both requests were denied without explanation on Tuesday afternoon. Earlier this month, Trump’s lawyers filed a request for Merchan to recuse himself, which the judge promptly rejected, as he had done to a similar request made in August. At the same time, Trump’s lawyers sued him in appellate court. Earlier on Tuesday, Merchan fined Trump $9,000 for violating his gag order, and demanded he remove several “offending” posts from his Truth Social account. The court heard witness testimony from Stormy Daniels’ ex-lawyer Keith Davidson on Tuesday, as the trial entered its third week in session.