The judge presiding over former President Donald Trump‘s criminal trial in Washington, D.C., revealed her gag order on Monday and said it intends to block “grave threats” ahead of an eventual jury trial.
U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan found that despite Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, the former president’s “statements pose sufficiently grave threats to the integrity of these proceedings that cannot be addressed by alternative means, and [the court] has tailored its order to meet the force of those threats.”
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“Thus, limited restrictions on extrajudicial statements are justified here,” Chutkan added.
The brief order occurred nearly 24 hours after Chutkan sided with special counsel Jack Smith’s team of prosecutors in calling for a “narrow” gag order against the former president after he engaged in weeks of what they alleged was “disparaging” rhetoric that could threaten the administration of justice in the case.
Trump is accused of conspiring to subvert the 2020 election results and faces four criminal counts, on top of three other indictments he is facing in other jurisdictions. Before the order, Trump often labeled Smith as a “thug” and “deranged,” adjectives that could spark punitive sanctions against him, Chutkan said on Monday.
Chutkan’s order clearly stated that all parties, including counsel, may not make public statements or direct others to make public statements that target Smith or other prosecutors. It also bars similar comments against “this court’s staff or other supporting personnel,” as well as “any reasonably foreseeable witness or the substance of their testimony.”
The judge made notable exceptions for political speech as Trump mounts his bid to face President Joe Biden again next November.
“This Order shall not be construed to prohibit Defendant from making statements criticizing the government generally, including the current administration or the Department of Justice; statements asserting that Defendant is innocent of the charges against him, or that his prosecution is politically motivated,” Chutkan wrote.
Exemptions also include statements of criticism against campaign platforms and policies of Trump’s political rivals, “such as former Vice President [Mike] Pence,” Chutkan wrote.
Later on Tuesday, lawyers for the former president filed a notice of intent to appeal Chutkan’s order to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
Trump was back in New York state court on Tuesday as the civil fraud trial against him and his business, the Trump Organization, pressed forward. Trump has also been barred from speaking about court staff in that trial and addressed his latest gag order in comments to the press.
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“The judge said basically I don’t have a right to speak, and I’m the No. 1 candidate. … I’m leading Joe Biden, and I’m being restricted. My speech has been taken away from me,” Trump said.
Read the gag order in full:
