On Monday, the federal judge overseeing Donald Trump's election interference case agreed to a “narrow” gag order barring the former President from targeting witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and their families.
Judge Tanya Chutkan said Trump's status as a candidate did not give him authority to level a “smear campaign” against those involved in the case, saying that “1st amendment protections yield to the administration of justice and to the protection of witnesses.”
The Hill has more:
She declined however, to grant an order with the breadth requested by the Justice Department in September, declining to limit any speech attacking her or the District of Columbia, saying the court would use the jury selection process to ensure it does not pick jurors swayed by Trump's repeated attacks on the city.
The extent of Chutkan's order was not entirely clear, saying she would describe only the “contours” of her decision, while drafting a formal ruling later.
“This is not about whether I like the language Mr. Trump uses,” Chutkan said. “This is about language that dangers the administration of justice.”
During the hearing, Chutkan particularly raised concerns over Trump's statements calling special counsel Jack Smith a deranged thug.
“I cannot imagine any other criminal case where a defendant is allowed to call a prosecutor deranged or a thug,” she said.
“I will not permit it here simply because the defendant is running a political campaign,” Chutkan added.
A Trump campaign spokesperson connected the decision to President Biden, who had no role in the decision or in Trump's court cases, and called the ruling “an absolute abomination and another partisan knife stuck in the heart of our Democracy.”
“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,” the spokesperson said in a statement shared by the campaign.
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Basically, these Trump-hating Dem judges are making it up as they go along, whether it is lawful from the bench or not. Not to mention that fool judge in NY who declared him guilty before he even entered the courtroom & has absolutely no clue about the value of real estate in NY but egged on by that James woman. It is my hope that Trump is re-elected in 2024 & removes every single corrupt judge & DA all across the entire country.