{"id":19126,"date":"2023-10-17T02:42:45","date_gmt":"2023-10-17T07:42:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=19126"},"modified":"2023-10-17T02:42:49","modified_gmt":"2023-10-17T07:42:49","slug":"judge-chutkan-will-hear-arguments-over-a-proposed-gag-order-in-trumps-us-election-interference-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=19126","title":{"rendered":"Judge Chutkan will hear arguments over a proposed gag order in Trump\u2019s US election interference case"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The federal judge overseeing the 2020 election interference case<\/u><\/a> against Donald Trump<\/u><\/a> in Washington imposed a narrow gag order on him on Monday, barring the Republican former president from making statements targeting prosecutors, possible witnesses and court staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The order from U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan<\/u><\/a> marks a milestone moment in the federal case that accuses Trump of illegally conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. It\u2019s the most serious restriction a court has placed on Trump\u2019s incendiary rhetoric, which has become a centerpiece of his grievance-filled campaign to return to the White House while fighting criminal charges in four cases<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The order may end a line of attack that Trump has made central to his campaign for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. But it may be only the beginning of an unprecedented fight over what limits can be a placed on the speech of a defendant<\/u><\/a> who is also campaigning for America\u2019s highest public office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a social media post shortly after the hearing in Washington\u2019s federal court, Trump vowed to appeal. During a campaign appearance in Iowa later Monday, Trump decried the order as unconstitutional, and claimed it would only help him in the polls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Speaking from the bench, Chutkan said Trump is entitled to criticize the Justice Department generally and assert his belief that the case is politically motivated but can\u2019t mount a \u201csmear campaign\u201d against prosecutors and court personnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>\u201cNo other criminal defendant would be allowed to do so, and I\u2019m not going to allow it in this case,\u201d Chutkan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chutkan, who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama, said she would impose \u201csanctions as may be necessary\u201d if the gag order is violated, but she wasn\u2019t more specific. Judges can threaten gag order violators with fines or jail time, but jailing a presidential candidate could prompt serious political blowback and pose logistical hurdles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While ending the stream of Trump\u2019s harsh language<\/u><\/a> may make the case easier to manage, the court order is likely to also fuel Trump\u2019s claims of political persecution. Trump\u2019s campaign quickly seized on the gag order in a fundraising appeal email Monday afternoon, falsely claiming that it was requested by Biden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At rallies and in social media posts, Trump has repeatedly sought to vilify Smith and other prosecutors, casting himself as the victim of a politicized justice system working to deny him another term. His disparaging remarks have continued since prosecutors requested the gag order last month, including in a media post on Sunday in which he called Smith \u201cderanged\u201d and called Chutkan \u201chighly partisan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gag orders are not unheard of in high-profile cases, but there is little legal precedent for court orders limiting the speech of defendants running for public office and none addressing presidential candidates. Legal experts have said the issue may end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s lawyer John Lauro fiercely opposed any gag order, saying Trump is entitled to criticize prosecutors and \u201cspeak truth to oppression.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe is allowed to make statements the prosecution doesn\u2019t like. That\u2019s part of living with the First Amendment,\u201d said Lauro, who declined to comment on the ruling after the hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ruling came as Trump was onboard his plane traveling to early-voting Iowa for a pair of campaign events<\/u><\/a>. It is unclear whether Trump will abide by the new restrictions, and for how long. In a statement, a Trump spokesperson called the judge\u2019s decision \u201can absolute abomination.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Smith\u2019s team argued that Trump knows that his incendiary remarks \u2014 calling the justice system \u201crigged,\u201d Chutkan a \u201cTrump-hating judge,\u201d and prosecutors a \u201cteam of thugs\u201d \u2014 could inspire his supporters to threaten or harass his targets. Prosecutors said it is part of Trump\u2019s effort to erode the public\u2019s faith in the judicial system just like they say he sought to undermine confidence in the 2020 election by spreading lies of fraud<\/u><\/a> after he lost to Biden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat Mr. Lauro is saying is the defendant is above the law and he is not subject to the rules of this court like any other defendant is,\u201d prosecutor Molly Gaston told the judge. \u201cAll this order would do is prevent him from using the campaign as an opportunity to make materially prejudicial statements about this case.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The judge repeatedly pushed back against claims from the defense that prosecutors were seeking to censor the Trump\u2019s political speech. Chutkan said Trump \u201cdoes not have a right to say and do exactly as he pleases.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou keep talking about censorship like the defendant has unfettered First Amendment rights. He doesn\u2019t,\u201d Chutkan told Lauro. \u201cWe\u2019re not talking about censorship here. We\u2019re talking restrictions to ensure there is a fair administration of justice on this case.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also cut off Trump\u2019s lawyer when he suggested the case was politically motivated, telling him: \u201cObviously, you have an audience other than me in mind.\u201d And she rejected a defense bid to delay the trial, currently scheduled to begin in March<\/u><\/a>, until after the 2024 election, saying \u201cthis trial will not yield to the election cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lauro said Trump had not violated his pretrial conditions, and those were enough to keep him in check for the future. He told the judge, \u201cWhat you have put in place is working.\u201d Chutkan burst out laughing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to have to take issue with that,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading aloud a slew of statements from Trump, Chutkan repeatedly raised concerns that his remarks could inspire violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you call certain people thugs enough times doesn\u2019t that suggest, Mr. Lauro, that someone should get them off the streets?\u201d she asked Trump\u2019s lawyer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prosecutors said Trump\u2019s litany of attacks was already having consequences. They noted that a top prosecutor on Smith\u2019s team received intimidating communications after being singled out by Trump, and a Texas woman was charged in August<\/u><\/a> with making racist death threats against Chutkan, who is of Black and Asian descent<\/u><\/a>, in a phone message left at her chambers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the second gag order imposed on Trump in the last month. The judge overseeing Trump\u2019s civil fraud trial in New York earlier this month issued\u00a0a more limited gag order<\/u><\/a>\u00a0prohibiting personal attacks against court personnel following a social media post from Trump that maligned the judge\u2019s principal clerk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apnews<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The federal judge overseeing the 2020 election interference case against Donald Trump in Washington imposed a narrow gag order on him on Monday, barring the Republican former president from making statements targeting prosecutors, possible witnesses and court staff. The order from U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan marks a milestone moment in the federal case that accuses Trump of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":19127,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[3614,5689,23399,1769,23398,1230],"class_list":["post-19126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-candidates","tag-federal-prosecutors","tag-gag-order","tag-justice","tag-name-calling","tag-trump"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19126"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19128,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19126\/revisions\/19128"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}