The judge in the case charging Donald Trump with leading a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election has issued a limited gag order on the former president. According to the New York Times, the order says he may not make public statements attacking the witnesses, prosecutors, or court staff involved in the case.
Judge Tanya Chutkan stated that Trump’s freedom of speech rights “do not permit him to launch a pre-trial smear campaign” against those people. “No other defendant would be allowed to do so, and I’m not going to allow it in this case.”
It is not clear how the judge will enforce the gag order if Trump ignores it.
As noted by the Times, “In issuing a nuanced, limited order, Judge Chutkan appeared to be trying to thread the needle on balancing Mr. Trump’s rights to political speech as a candidate for the country’s highest office and her own duties to protect the integrity of the case in front of her.”
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