Topline
A Washington, D.C., federal appeals court stayed a gag order against former President Donald Trump on Friday in a federal case over his alleged attempts to interfere with the results of the 2020 election, though the former president still faces a separate gag order in his New York civil fraud trial.
A gag order against former President Donald Trump was stayed in his federal election case.
Key Facts
The gag order in the D.C. case, which Trump asked to be lifted Thursday, will be put on hold “to give the court sufficient opportunity to consider the emergency motion for a stay pending appeal,” according to the order by a three-judge panel.
That gag order, which prohibited Trump from publicly criticizing all parties in the case, was initially issued by federal District Judge Tanya Chutkan on October 16, though it was temporarily lifted following Trump’s objection to it, and then reinstated earlier this week.
The order also restricted Trump’s public comments on Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith, who Trump had repeatedly slammed on his social media platform Truth Social, as well as any potential witnesses in the case or members of the court.
It comes just hours after New York Judge Arthur Engoron expanded a gag order against Trump in his civil fraud case to cover Trump’s attorneys, after Engoron claimed attorneys made disparaging comments about his clerk — Trump has been fined $15,000 over violations of the gag order, including by keeping a post of Engoron’s clerk on his campaign website.
Contra
In her decision to reinstate the order, Chutkan argued the court had a duty to balance free speech and “potential prejudice,” after Trump claimed the gag order unfairly restricted his First Amendment rights.
Key Background
Trump has faced multiple gag orders amid building legal trouble for the 2024 presidential candidate, who has repeatedly taken to Truth Social to slam prosecutors across a handful of federal and state cases for conducting an alleged “witch hunt” against him. Federal prosecutors in the elections case requested a gag order against the former president in September, arguing his public statements could “undermine the integrity” of the court proceedings and “prejudice the jury pool.” Trump over the summer referred to Smith as a “deranged lunatic” and a “Trump Hater.”
Further Reading
Federal Judge Reinstates Trump’s Gag Order In Election Interference Case (Forbes)
Trump Gag Orders: Everything The Ex-President Can’t Say In The Cases Against Him As Judge Reimposes Order (Forbes)
Trump Gag Order Expanded To Ex-President’s Attorneys After ‘Hundreds’ Of Threats In N.Y. Fraud Case (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/11/03/trumps-dc-gag-order-put-on-hold-by-appeals-court/