The federal judge overseeing Donald Trump’s election subversion case in Washington, D.C., on Sunday night reinstated a gag order on the former president, restricting what he can publicly say about witnesses and prosecutors ahead of the March 2024 trial.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan first imposed the narrow order on Trump on Oct. 16 after a legal slugfest between his team and federal prosecutors ended in her deciding that his rights under the First Amendment did not empower him “to launch a pretrial smear campaign” against his perceived enemies.
After Trump’s lawyers scrambled to appeal the order, Chutkan temporarily froze it on Oct. 20 to allow them more time to develop arguments that it should be paused indefinitely as the appeals process plays out. Federal prosecutors fought for it to be restored, writing that Trump had already “capitalized” on the pause to send “an unmistakable and threatening message” to Mark Meadows, his former chief of staff and “a foreseeable witness.”
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On Sunday, nine days after she suspended the order, a notice that it had been reimposed—alongside another notice that Chutkan had denied the long-term stay—was posted on the court’s electronic docket.
Further details on the order as well as Chutkan’s opinion were not immediately available on the online system.
Less than an hour and a half after the gag order was filed, Trump appeared to violate it, posting a typically feverish rant to Truth Social targeting his former attorney general—and a potential witness in the federal case.
“I called Bill Barr Dumb, Weak, Slow Moving, Lethargic, Gutless, and Lazy, a RINO WHO COULDN’T DO THE JOB…” Trump said in part. “I was tough on him in the White House, for good reason, so now this Moron says about me, to get even, ‘his verbal skills are limited.’ Well, that’s one I haven’t heard before. Tell that to the biggest political crowds in the history of politics, by far. Bill Barr is a LOSER!”
After pivoting briefly to cordially thank Ben Carson for his endorsement, Trump went back to his tirade. “The Corrupt Biden Administration just took away my Frist Amendment Right To Free Speech,” he posted to his 6.4 million followers. “NOT CONSTITUTIONAL! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN…”
The former president also has to contend with a separate gag order in his civil fraud case in New York—an order that has already cost him thousands of dollars. On Wednesday, Judge Arthur F. Engoron called Trump to the stand for roughly a minute, pressed him about a barely veiled insult he’d made that morning about a member of the judge’s staff, then imposed a $10,000 fine.
