Appeals Court Largely Upholds Trump DC Gag Order

WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court panel on Friday largely upheld a gag order imposed on former President Donald Trump in the criminal case accusing him of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election, but loosened it just enough to allow criticism of the special counsel on the case.

The three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia largely upheld U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s decision to bar Trump from making statements that target potential witnesses, prosecutors and court staffers.

“We agree with the district court that some aspects of Mr. Trump’s public statements pose a significant and imminent threat to the fair and orderly adjudication of the ongoing criminal proceeding, warranting a speech-constraining protective order,” the panel wrote.

However, it said, “the district court’s order … sweeps in more protected speech than is necessary.”

To that end, the court said Trump should be able to publicly criticize special counsel Jack Smith, who has filed two indictments against him.

With its ruling, the panel appears to try to strike a balance between safeguarding the judicial process while also allowing Trump, to some degree, to defend himself while on the campaign trail.

Before the gag order was in place Trump frequently told attendees at his rallies that his prosecution was a political vendetta and repeatedly hurled insults at Smith. Once it was in place, he complained he was being muzzled, in violation of his First Amendment right to free speech.

Whether a mere loosening of the gag order will satisfy Trump is anybody’s guess. His lawyers have previously said if any of it remained in place they would challenge the order all the way to the Supreme Court.

The panel tried, however, to get Trump to see things its way.

“To avoid any potential doubt,” it said near the end of the document’s 68 pages, “Mr. Trump is free to make statements criticizing the current administration, the Department of Justice and the special counsel, as well as statements that this prosecution is politically motivated or that he is innocent of the charges against him. 

“We do not allow such an order lightly. Mr. Trump is a former president and current candidate for the presidency, and there is a strong public interest in what he has to say. But Mr. Trump is also an indicted criminal defendant, and he must stand trial in a courtroom under the same procedures that govern all other criminal defendants. That is what the rule of law means,” the panel said.

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