A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., on Friday upheld a gag order against former President Donald Trump in his 2020 election interference case, but placed fewer restrictions on his speech.
The 2024 Republican front-runner is allowed to disparage special counsel Jack Smith, who charged Trump in August with four counts of allegedly making “knowingly false” election claims while trying to overturn his loss to Joe Biden.
But the three-judge panel upheld Judge Tanya Chutkan’s ban on Trump’s public statements about the possible involvement of known or “reasonably foreseeable” witnesses in the case.
“By broadly prohibiting any statements about or directed at the Special Prosecutor and court staff and attorneys, as well as reasonably foreseeable witnesses or their testimony, the Order is overbroad,” the judges said in their opinion.
“It captures some constitutionally protected speech that lacks features or content that would affect the proper functioning or ability of the court to administer justice.”
The court had previously suspended the gag order while considering Trump’s appeal motion.
An appeals court upheld the gag order imposed on former President Donald Trump in his case in Washington. POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Trump, 77, and his defense team have described the gag order as unconstitutional and unprecedented, as he is the only criminal defendant to have one imposed while campaigning for public office.
The former president announced on Truth Social on Friday afternoon that he would appeal the ruling, saying:
“An Appeals Court has just largely upheld the Gag Order against me in the ridiculous Case J6, where the January 6 Unselected Committee removed and destroyed almost all Documents and Evidence, saying I can be prohibited from speaking and, in fact, tell the truth. . In other words, people can speak violently and cruelly against me, or attack me in any way, but I am not allowed to respond in the same way.
“What is happening to our First Amendment, what is happening to our Country?”
“Today, the DC Circuit Court panel, with every judge appointed by a Democratic president, determined that a large portion of Judge Chutkan’s extraordinarily broad gag order was unconstitutional,” said Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung, in a statement.
Former President Donald Trump sits at the defense table with his attorneys Christopher Kise, left, Alina Habba, second from right, and Clifford Robert at the New York Supreme Court, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023, in New York . AP
“President Trump will continue to fight for the First Amendment rights of tens of millions of Americans to hear from the leading presidential candidate at the height of his campaign. “The Biden-led witch hunt against President Trump and the American people will fail.”
A four-judge panel of a New York 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 prohibited Trump from making public statements directed at Smith, other federal prosecutors, court staff and potential witnesses in the case.
Chutkan agreed with Smith’s team that Trump had a “history of using inflammatory language to attack” others involved in the case, and had already threatened a witness who he said had testified falsely 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 of the Republican Party presidential primaries.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn