Former President Donald Trump decried Judge Tanya Chutkan’s gag order after a federal appeals court ruling.<\/b>
\nFormer President Donald Trump has questioned the weight that the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution still holds after his gag order in the federal election subversion case was upheld, for the most part, in a federal appeals court.
Trump stands accused by the Department of Justice (DOJ) of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, among other counts, for his alleged involvement in the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot. Trump has maintained his innocence and accused prosecutors of targeting him for political purposes as he is the GOP front-runner for the 2024 presidential nomination.
Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over the Washington, D.C., case, issued a partial gag order on Trump in October, restricting his ability to publicly target DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith and his staff, as well as court personnel and potential witnesses.
Trump appealed the order, and on Friday, a federal appeals court ruled that Trump may make public statements about Smith. However, Trump may not speak about other prosecutors, court staffers or their family members if his comments are designed to interfere with work done by lawyers or court staff in the case.
Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, on Friday to decry the decision.
„An Appeals Court has just largely upheld the Gag Order against me in the ridiculous J6 Case, where the Unselect January 6th Committee deleted and destroyed almost all Documents and Evidence, saying that I can be barred from talking and, in effect, telling the truth,“ Trump wrote.
„In other words, people can speak violently and viciously against me, or attack me in any form, but I am not allowed to respond, in kind. What is becoming of our First Amendment, what is becoming of our Country? We will appeal this decision!“
In his post, Trump was referring to the House Select Committee that investigated the Capitol riot. The committee was composed of seven Democrats and two Republicans.
On January 6, 2021, a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., to try to stop the certification of the 2020 election won by Joe Biden. The riot followed unsubstantiated claims made by Trump that the election was stolen from him via widespread voter fraud.
In December 2022, the January 6 Committee released its full report, which called for the DOJ to pursue criminal charges against Trump. The report also said that Congress should work to restrict Trump and others involved in the Capitol riot from ever holding federal office again.<\/p>\n