(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
As of this writing, Donald Trump has managed to go a whole three hours without violating the gag order imposed by Judge Tanya Chutkan in the DC election interference case.
Although he’s definitely straining at the bit:
After a contentious hearing this morning, Judge Chutkan issued a limited gag order from the bench, promising a written memorialization to follow. Trump will be barred from attacking witnesses, prosecutors, and courtroom staff, but permitted to disparage the potential jury pool in DC and the judge herself. This was somewhat narrower than the order sought by prosecutors, who also failed to secure court supervision over any potential polling which might taint the jury.
Nevertheless, Trump’s campaign immediately released a statement screaming bloody murder:
Today’s decision is an absolute abomination and another partisan knife stuck in the heart of our Democracy by Crooked Joe Biden, who was granted the right to muzzle his political opponent, the leading candidate for the Presidency in 2024, and the most popular political leader in America, President Donald J. Trump. 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.
This is of a piece with the tone taken by Trump’s lawyer John Lauro, both in court this morning and in his motions protesting the gag order.
“Keenly aware that it is losing that race for 2024, the prosecution seeks to unconstitutionally silence President Trump’s (but not President Biden’s) political speech on pain of contempt,” Lauro wrote on September 25, accusing Special Counsel Jack Smith of “preventing President Trump from defending himself in the political arena, while giving President Biden and his surrogates (including those in the corporate media) free reign [sic] to say whatever they want.”
Lauro persisted with this feigned ignorance about the court’s ability to restrain non-parties. He also made a bizarre promise that Trump would “take the rats off the streets” of DC. But most of the morning was occupied with the attorney’s customary howls about political persecution by the “Biden Justice Department.”
“What does somebody do in the face of oppression in a system that now approaches totalitarianism … ? In President Trump’s mind, that’s what he is facing right now,” Lauro complained, according to Politico, adding that “George Orwell would have a field day with what we’re hearing from these prosecutors.”
And indeed the court agreed, that “George Orwell would definitely have a field day.” But that was the end of her agreement with defense counsel.
Judge Chutkan admonished Lauro to dial it back — “I do not need to hear any campaign rhetoric in my courtroom.” — and noting that “obviously you have an audience other than me in mind.”
She appeared incredulous at Lauro’s suggestion that it was legitimate political discourse for Trump to attack Jack Smith’s wife or court staff, as he did with New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron’s clerk.
And she bristled at the suggestion that it was illegal censorship to impinge on Trump’s speech simply because he’s a political candidate.
L: this is prosecution un precedented, using statutes in all sorts of crazy ways to take trump out of a political cycle. asking for order not just affecting trump but public that wants to hear from trump. 1st time we’ve had sitting adm prosecute a political opponent.
/22— Roger Parloff (@rparloff) October 16, 2023
“Mr. Trump is a criminal defendant. He is facing four felony charges. He is under the supervision of the criminal justice system,” the court insisted. “He does not have the right to say and do exactly as he pleases. … No other criminal defendant would be allowed to do so and I am not going to permit it in this case.”
Judge Chutkan literally laughed at multiple points during the hearing, including when Lauro insisted that the “no gag” order was working out swell, even as his client publicly attacks the prosecution, spreads misinformation about evidence in the case, and calls for a witness’s execution.
Lauro again suggested that the only way to avoid political interference during the election campaign was to delay the trial until after November of 2024, but was immediately shot down: “This trial will not yield to the election cycle and we will not revisit the trial date.”
Trump has thus far managed to adhere to the terms of the order. He did, however, repost this brain teaser from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was in the courtroom today.
How exactly did Judge Chutkan murder the First Amendment by granting the press access to the hearing?
Guess we’ll find out when Lauro files his promised appeal!
Judge imposes gag order on Donald Trump in D.C. trial [Politico]
Judge Chutkan issues limited gag order for Trump in D.C. Jan. 6 case [WaPo]
US v. Trump [DDC Docket via Court Listener]
Liz Dye lives in Baltimore where she writes about law and politics and appears on the Opening Arguments podcast.