A federal appeals court in Washington, DC, on Friday upheld a gag order against former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election meddling case but placed fewer restrictions on his speech.
The 2024 Republican front-runner was allowed to disparage special counsel Jack Smith, who indicted Trump in August on four counts of allegedly making “consciously false” election claims while trying to overturn his defeat by Joe Biden.
But the three-judge panel upheld a ban imposed by Judge Tanya Chutkan on public statements by Trump about the possible participation of known or “foreseeable” witnesses in the case.
“By broadly prohibiting any statements about or directed to the Special Counsel and court staff and counsel, as well as reasonably foreseeable witnesses or their testimony, the Order sweeps too broadly,” the judges said in their opinion.
“It captures some constitutionally protected speech that has no characteristics or content that would affect the proper functioning of the court or the ability to administer justice.”
The court had previously put the gag order on hold while considering Trump’s appeal.
An appeals court upheld a gag order on former President Donald Trump in his Washington case. POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Trump, 77, and his defense team have called the gag order unconstitutional and unprecedented, as he is the only criminal defendant slapped with it while campaigning for public office.
The former president announced on Truth Social Friday afternoon that he would appeal the decision, saying:
“The Court of Appeal has just upheld a Gag Order against me in the ridiculous J6 Case, where the Unelected January 6th Committee deleted and destroyed almost all Documents and Evidence, saying that I could be prevented from speaking and, in fact, telling the truth. . In other words, people can speak violently and cruelly to me, or attack me in any way, but I am not allowed to respond, in kind.
“What happened to our First Amendment, what happened to our Country?”
“Today, a DC Circuit Court panel, with every judge appointed by a Democratic President, ruled that a substantial portion of Judge Chutkan’s extremely extreme order was unconstitutional,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.
Former President Donald Trump sits at the defense table with his attorney Christopher Kise, left, Alina Habba, second from right, and Clifford Robert in New York Supreme Court, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023, in New York. AP
“President Trump will continue to champion the First Amendment right of tens of millions of Americans to hear from leading Presidential candidates at the height of his campaign. The Biden-led witch hunt for President Trump and the American people will fail.”
A four-judge panel in New York’s appeals court also upheld a gag order against the former president last month in connection with his $250 million civil fraud case in Manhattan.
Chutkan’s initial gag order prevents Trump from making any public statements targeting Smith, other federal prosecutors, court staff and potential witnesses in the case.
Chutkan agreed with Smith’s team that Trump has a “history of using inflammatory language to target” others involved in the case — and has threatened a witness he says has given false testimony against him.
The former president has pleaded not guilty to all charges in the case and faces up to 55 years in prison if convicted.
The trial is scheduled to begin on March 4, 2024, the day before Super Tuesday in the GOP presidential primary.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
