Former US President Donald Trump was on Monday, October 16 issued a limited gag order by the federal judge overseeing the criminal case over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Tanya Chutkan, the US district judge prohibited Trump from making public statements attacking prosecutors, court staff and potential trial witnesses.
The former president was not prohibited from generally disparaging the Biden administration, the US Justice Department and the trial venue of Washington DC.
Judge Tanya warned Trump’s lawyers that any violation of the order could lead to immediate punitive sanctions.
“There is a real risk that witnesses may be intimidated,” Chutkan said as she explained her decision from the bench, adding that just because Trump was a 2024 presidential candidate and the GOP nomination frontrunner did not give him free rein to “launch a pre-trial smear campaign”.
The ruling was the culmination of a two-hour hearing in federal district court after prosecutors in the office of the special counsel Jack Smith had asked the judge to impose restrictions on Trump’s attacks that they felt could intimidate witnesses – and Judge Tanya agreed.
At issue were dozens of public remarks by Trump and Truth Social posts from him disparaging the case since he was indicted in August on charges he conspired to reverse his 2020 election defeat and obstructed the transfer of power, including the January 6 congressional certification.
The judge separated into five categories Trump’s inflammatory comments about the trial venire of Washington DC, the Biden administration and the justice department, Smith and his staff, Chutkan and her staff, as well as people who might be called to testify at trial.
Tanya however announced that she would not restrict Trump from attacking the government because it would be within the scope of political speech.
