October 16, 2023
Former President Donald Trump is now dealing with another limited gag order.
And obviously – he’s not happy about it.
This one comes from judge Tanya Chutkan in the federal election interference case being brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
Now before I tell you what trump can’t talk about – I’m going to tell you what the judge says he absolutely can talk about.
He can – talk about this case generally and all they ways he feels he is being unfairly prosecuted.
He can talk about the judge.
He can talk about the Justice Department
And he can talk about the Biden Administration and all the ways trump believes this is a political attack.
But, according to Judge Chutkan, trump cannot attack special counsel Jack Smith the special counsel, or his staff or family, nor can he attack court staff or witnesses.
Now – former Vice President Mike Pence is an interesting issue. Since Pence is a rival for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination but also is a witness in the special counsel’s case against Trump, the judge said Trump can attack pence on the campaign trail – but he cannot go after him for anything related to this case. That would include Pence’s choice to go against trump’s wishes and certify President Biden’s election victory on January 6th.
Now –before the judge announced her decision — Trump’s lawyers were arguing that as a presidential candidate, any kind of gag order would be a severe violation of trump’s 1st Amendment right. The judge pushed back saying Mr. Trump’s free speech rights do not permit him to “launch a pretrial smear campaign” against those people.” “No other defendant would be allowed to do so and I’m not going to allow it in this case.” Even Trump’s attorney agreed that as a criminal defendant, Trump does not have an unlimited right to say whatever he wants about the case.
But that didn’t stop the Trump campaign from releasing this response right after the ruling was announced. It says …“today’s decision is an absolute abomination and another partisan knife stuck in the heart of our democracy by crooked Joe Biden, who was granted the right to muzzle his political opponent, the leading candidate for the presidency in 2024, and the most popular political leader in America, President Donald J. Trump. President trump will continue to fight for our constitution, the American people’s right to support him, and to keep our country free of the chains of weaponized and targeted law enforcement.”
Judge Chutkan did not saw how she will enforce her gag order. She merely said she would assess any consequences for Trump if and when he violates her order.
Trump’s attorney said he will appeal this order.
