A federal judge ruled Monday that former President Donald Trump cannot make statements criticizing prosecutors, court staff, or their families — or discuss possible witnesses or testimony in the election interference case against him.
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan stressed that her partial gag order does not preclude Trump, 77, from attacking the Justice Department or stating his belief that the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith is politically motivated.
“You keep talking about censorship like the defendant has unfettered First Amendment rights. He doesn’t,” Chutkan told Trump attorney John Lauro at one point during a morning hearing.
“We’re not talking about censorship here,” the judge added. “We’re talking restrictions to ensure there is a fair administration of justice on this case.”
Trump was not present during the Washington hearing, but his presidential campaign quickly condemned the order.
“Today’s decision is an absolute abomination and another partisan knife stuck in the heart of our Democracy by Crooked Joe Biden, who was granted the right to muzzle his political opponent, the leading candidate for the Presidency in 2024,” a spokesperson said in an unsigned statement.
“President Trump will continue to fight for our Constitution, the American people’s right to support him, and to keep our country free of the chains of weaponized and targeted law enforcement.”
During the hearing, Trump seethed from the sidelines on social media.
“The TRUMP GAG ORDER that the CORRUPT Biden Administration is trying to obtain is totally Unconstitutional,” he posted on Truth Social.
If the former president violates the order, Chutkan said, she would impose “sanctions as may be necessary,” but declined to give specifics. Such penalties could include fines or jail time, but also risks intense political blowback.
Trump has sporadically railed against both the judge and the special counsel on Truth Social, posting in August: “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!”
That prompted Smith’s team to pursue a protective order restricting Trump from sharing evidence in the case. Prosecutors later won a modified version of their request from Chutkan.
Trump’s attorneys had fought against Smith’s bid for a gag, citing the ongoing campaign in which Trump is the Republican front-runner.
“[This] is nothing more than an obvious attempt by the Biden Administration to unlawfully silence its most prominent political opponent, who has now taken a commanding lead in the polls,” the former president’s legal team argued in a filing last month.
Prosecutor Molly Gaston argued in response that Trump’s attorneys were seeking “special treatment, asserting that because he is a political candidate he should have free rein to publicly intimidate witnesses and malign the Court.”
In court Monday, Chutkan read aloud a series of statements from Trump, repeatedly raising concerns that his remarks could inspire violence.
“If you call certain people thugs enough times doesn’t that suggest, Mr. Lauro, that someone should get them off the streets?” she asked at one point.
Among the audience was Trump ally and far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who has openly mused about being the Republican nominee’s running made next year.
“DC Courts have now become the Ministry of Truth,” Greene posted on X in response to Chutkan’s ruling.
Trump’s trial in the case is slated for March 4, 2024, just one day before the Super Tuesday presidential primary contests. His team has unsuccessfully tried to move the start date back.
The former president pleaded not guilty to all four counts in the 2020 election case on Aug. 3.
He is also facing a 34-count case out of Manhattan regarding alleged concealment of hush money payments, a 40-count indictment from Smith for allegedly hoarding a tranche of national security documents, and 13 counts for alleged election subversion in Georgia.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in all of those cases and decried them as election interference and a “witch hunt.”
Concerns about Trump’s rhetoric are not limited to the 2020 election case.
In an ongoing New York civil fraud case, presiding Judge Arthur Engoron recently ordered Trump to remove a post about a court clerk that referred to the woman as “[Chuck] Schumer’s girlfriend.”
Trump has a firm hold on the 2024 GOP primary contest, with a commanding lead in every national poll of the race.
He is the first current or former US president to be criminally indicted.