U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan imposed a limited gag order on former President Donald Trump on Monday, barring the former president from making some public statements involving parties in the federal case against him for trying to overturn the 2020 election after prosecutors argued his social media posts could influence the case—but not going quite as far as the Justice Department asked.
Former President Donald Trump speaks to guests during a rally on October 7 in Waterloo, Iowa.
Chutkan imposed the gag order following a hearing Monday over whether restrictions on Trump’s speech were necessary, after prosecutors pointed to social media posts the ex-president shared like making threats against potential witnesses and attacking Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith and his spouse.
The gag order restricts what Trump can say about Smith, potential witnesses in the case and the court and its staff, CBS News reports, after the DOJ asked Chutkan to bar Trump from making “disparaging” or “inflammatory” comments about parties in the case.
Trump is allowed to criticize the Biden Administration, the Justice Department or residents of Washington, D.C.—who Trump claims are biased against him and therefore means he won’t get a fair jury—under the order, according to the New York Times, and can criticize former Vice President Mike Pence about events outside of the 2020 election, given that he’s Trump’s opponent in the presidential primary.
This story is breaking and will be updated.