Judge reimposes Trump gag order in election interference case
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A federal judge on Sunday reinstated the silence order she imposed on Donald Trump in the Washington case, accusing him of overturning his 2020 election defeat, preventing him from attacking witnesses, prosecutors and court officials.
The order prohibited Trump from targeting Jack Smith, the special counsel who prosecuted his case, or witnesses who might be called to testify about his efforts to compensate for his election loss. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan imposed the silence order on October 16 at the request of the Justice Department.
She temporarily lifted it on October 20 after Trump’s lawyers appealed, arguing that the silence order was vaguely worded, unwieldy and unnecessary. According to the court docket, she reversed that decision on Sunday evening.
The gag order in Washington is separate from the order imposed by the judge overseeing his civil fraud trial in New York City. Trump reacted furiously to Chutkan’s statement on Sunday.
“The corrupt Biden administration just took away my First Amendment right to free speech,” he wrote on Truth Social. ‘NOT CONSTITUTIONAL!’ Trump has in the past called special counsel Jack Smith a “deranged lunatic” and a “thug,” among other things.
Trump faces four criminal cases and has made disparaging comments about the prosecutors in each of those cases, as well as the New York state attorney general who has filed civil fraud charges against him.
Trump has denied guilt on charges that he planned to unlawfully interfere with the vote counting and block congressional certification of his 2020 loss to Joe Biden. Enforcing the gag orders appears to be complicated.
Trump has twice run afoul of a silence order imposed on him by Judge Arthur Engoron, who oversaw his civil fraud trial in New York, and has been fined a total of $15,000. Engoron has warned of heavier fines, contempt of court and possible prison sentences.
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