Former President Donald Trump speaks as he returns to the courtroom after the lunch break of his civil business fraud trial, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, at New York Supreme Court in New York. The federal judge overseeing Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference case in Washington agreed Friday to temporarily lift her narrow gag order. The ruling gives Trump’s lawyers time to prove why the former president’s comments should not be restricted as the case heads toward trial.
Trump’s lawyers, who quickly appealed the ruling to the D.C. Circuit Court, wrote in court papers Friday that the gag order should be lifted while his legal challenges play out, calling the restrictions “egregious and intolerable.” They argued neither the judge nor prosecutors have “come close” to justifying the order, adding that the former president “has not unlawfully threatened or harassed anyone.
In her Monday ruling, Chutkan said Trump is allowed to criticize the Justice Department generally and assert his claims of innocence and his claims that the case is politically motivated. But she said his statements smearing prosecutors and likely witnesses have crossed a line and could spur his supporters to threaten or harass his targets.
It’s the second gag order imposed on Trump in the last month. The judge overseeing Trump’s civil fraud trial in New York earlier this month issued a more limited gag order prohibiting personal attacks against court personnel following a social media post from Trump that maligned the judge’s principal clerk.
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