According to CNN, a federal appeals court made a temporary decision on Friday to halt the limited gag order imposed on Donald Trump in his ongoing election subversion criminal case in Washington, DC. This development allows Trump to resume speaking freely, including the possibility of making critical statements about potential witnesses involved in the case.
The US DC Circuit Court of Appeals, consisting of Judges Patricia Millett, Cornelia Pillard, and Brad Garcia, announced the suspension of the gag order originally enforced by District Judge Tanya Chutkan. This pause was granted to provide ample time for the court to thoroughly consider Trump’s request to suspend the order while his appeal progresses.
With plans to expedite Trump’s appeal and hear arguments regarding the matter on November 20, the appellate judges are tasked with evaluating the former president’s bid to resist further limitations on his public communication since his indictment. Thus far, the Justice Department has effectively contended that restrictions on Trump’s speech are necessary, given his frequent social media posts concerning potential witnesses, which could potentially result in harassment and damage their credibility within the jury pool.
While Chutkan had initially rejected Trump’s legal team’s arguments, affirming the legality of the gag order for the former president as a criminal defendant, Trump had challenged this stance on constitutional grounds at the appeals court.
Despite the temporary suspension, the prosecution informed Chutkan that Trump swiftly resumed posting allegedly intimidating content about prosecutors and potential witnesses on social media. Consequently, Chutkan reinstated the order, highlighting that a post targeting Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, would have likely violated the gag order had it not been temporarily halted.
The appeals court now faces the critical task of determining whether to provide relief to the former president in this ongoing legal battle. Trump’s attorneys have emphasized the alleged bias evident in the prosecution’s request for the gag order, citing it as reflective of a significant hostility towards Trump’s viewpoints and his relentless criticism of the government, including the prosecution itself.
“The prosecution’s request for a Gag Order bristles with hostility to President Trump’s viewpoint and his relentless criticism of the government—including of the prosecution itself,” Trump’s attorneys told the appeals court in a filing Thursday. “The Gag Order embodies this unconstitutional hostility to President Trump’s viewpoint. It should be immediately stayed.”
The current order restricts Trump’s ability to publicly target court personnel, potential witnesses, or the special counsel and his team. Notably, the order does not impose constraints on derogatory remarks about Washington, DC, the location of the trial, or specific comments about the Justice Department as a whole, both of which were requested by the government.
