Federal appeals court narrows Trump gag order in 2020 election case
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Former President Trump gives remarks at the South Texas International airport on Nov. 19 in Edinburg, Texas. Photo: Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images
A federal appeals court on Friday upheld most of the partial gag order on former President Trump in his federal 2020 election subversion case.
Why it matters: The former president's gag order was reinstated but now allows him to comment on special counsel Jack Smith, but not other counsel in the case.
Driving the news: The gag order prohibits Trump and his counsel from "making or directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses concerning their potential participation in the investigation or in this criminal proceeding."
- It also bars Trump and his counsel from making statements about "members of the court's staff and counsel's staffs, or the family members of any counsel or staff member."
Zoom in: "Mr. Trump is free to make statements criticizing the current administration, the Department of Justice, and the Special Counsel, as well as statements that this prosecution is politically motivated or that he is innocent of the charges against him," per the order.
Between the lines: "We do not allow such an order lightly," the order reads, adding that "there is a strong public interest in what he has to say."
- "But Mr. Trump is also an indicted criminal defendant, and he must stand trial in a courtroom under the same procedures that govern all other criminal defendants. That is what the rule of law means."
- The panel also ruled that some of Trump's public statements "pose a significant and imminent threat to the fair and orderly adjudication of the ongoing criminal proceeding," but that the district court's order "sweeps in more protected speech than is necessary."
What they're saying: "President Trump will continue to fight for the First Amendment rights of tens of millions of Americans to hear from the leading Presidential candidate at the height of his campaign," Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement.
- "The Biden-led witch hunts against President Trump and the American people will fail."
The big picture: The three-judge panel heard oral arguments on the gag order last month and seemed inclined to uphold parts of the order, which was ordered by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in October.
- Chutkan at the time wrote that Trump's comments "pose sufficiently grave threats" to the "integrity" of the court proceedings.
- The gag order had been paused while the federal appeals court ruled on whether it was merited.
Zoom out: Trump is also facing a gag order in his New York civil fraud trial.
- Judge Arthur Engoron, who is presiding over the case, issued the gag order after Trump attacked the judge's law clerk in a post on Truth Social.
Go deeper: Trump's words turn violent as pressure on him builds
