A Washington DC federal judge imposed a partial gag order on former US President Donald Trump on Monday, prohibiting him from making any disparaging statements about potential witnesses, the court or prosecutors ahead of his criminal trial over alleged election interference during the 2020 US presidential election. The trial date is set for March 4, 2024.
The order followed a request by federal prosecutors on September 15 for Judge Tanya Chutkan to impose a gag order on Trump. Prosecutors submitted a motion to the court, pleading for a narrowly tailored order to curtail certain prejudicial out-of-court statements by the former president. This move came after several posts from Trump’s social media account on Truth Social supposedly intimidated prosecutors, questioned Chutkan’s impartiality, and targeted potential witnesses.
One day after Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges related to this case, he made an aggressive post on his Truth Social account that provoked prosecution’s move for a gag order. He had written, “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!”
Under federal law, no participant in a trial may knowingly use intimidation, threats or corruption to influence a witness’ testimony. Chutkan’s order came after a nearly two-hour hearing at the Federal District Court, during which Trump’s legal team and federal prosecutors presented arguments on the government’s proposed gag order.
Trump’s legal team argued that the proposed gag order was an attempt to curtail Trump’s First Amendment rights, suggesting a parallel between Trump’s statements and his ongoing presidential campaign. Chutkan, however, rejected this representation, pointing out that Trump, currently being a criminal defendant, could not simply say and do as he wished.
Despite this, Chutkan declined to wholly agree with the scope of the prosecutors’ proposed gag order, which aimed to restrain Trump’s speech in five areas. These areas covered potential attempts to prejudice the Washington DC jury pool for the trial, instigating any commentary on the Biden administration, Special Prosecutor Jack Smith and his prosecutorial team, Chutkan and her staff, and any potential witnesses to the case. In the final outcome, Chutkan only partially granted the gag order, covering the latter three areas.
Explaining her decision in court, Chutkan defined the limits of Trump’s First Amendment rights. She declared that while Trump could engage in a vigorous public campaign, critique the current administration, and claim political motivation behind his prosecution, he is not allowed to instigate a pre-trial smear campaign against the government staff, their families and potential witnesses.
Trump, who was not present at the hearing, announced at an Iowa campaign stop that he would appeal the order. He claimed that this gag order would essentially turn him into the only politician in history who is restrained from critiquing people while running a political campaign.
Trump currently faces four criminal counts in this case, including conspiracy to defraud the US government, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction and attempted obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy against US voters’ civil rights. The charges revolve around Trump’s actions and purportedly the interference during and after the 2020 US presidential election. Interestingly, this election interference case is one out of the four criminal cases—one that brings the total to 91 state and federal criminal charges—that Trump currently faces.