OAN’s Daniel Baldwin
8:25 AM – Monday, October 30, 2023
A Washington D.C. federal judge reinstated a gag order on former President Donald Trump Sunday evening in a motion that largely agreed to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s arguments.
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“Contrary to Defendant’s argument, the right to a fair trial is not his alone, but belongs also to the government and the public,” Judge Tanya Chutkan wrote in court filing.
Chutkan had temporarily suspended the gag order she imposed after a request from the Trump legal team. But Chutkan reimposed the order after Smith and his team highlighted a Truth Social post from Trump regarding a news report that the former White House chief of staff took a deal to testify in the Georgia election case.
“The statement singles out a foreseeable witness for purposes of characterizing his potentially unfavorable testimony as a “lie” “made up” to secure immunity, and it attacks him as a “weakling and coward” if he provides that unfavorable testimony—an attack that could readily be interpreted as an attempt to influence or prevent the witness’s participation in this case,” Chutkan wrote.
Trump criticized the decision to reinstate the gag order on Truth Social
“This order, according to many legal scholars, is unthinkable,” wrote Trump. “It illegally and unconstitutionally takes away my First Amendment Right of Free Speech, in the middle of my campaign for President, where I am leading against BOTH Parties in the Polls.”
“It will not stand,” Trump concluded.
In his ongoing New York civil case, Trump was fined $10,000 last week after the judge claimed that the 45th president violated the gag order in the case.
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