Judge warns Trump about public statements in 2020 election case

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan concluded a Friday hearing in former President Trump’s 2020 election criminal case by giving a word of caution to the parties about making public statements about the case.

She urged both sides to take “special care” to avoid prejudicing the jury pool or intimidating witnesses, including making any ambiguous statements that could be reasonably interpreted as doing so.

“I intend to ensure the orderly administration of justice in this case as I would with any other case,” she said.

Trump has repeatedly attacked Chutkan, special counsel Jack Smith and the Washington, D.C., jury pool since his indictment in the case last week. Trump has pleaded not guilty to four federal charges.

Chutkan scheduled Friday’s hearing to discuss prosecutors’ proposal for a protective order, which will place rules on how Trump and his attorneys can access materials that prosecutors give them in discovery. Chutkan said she would enter a protective order shortly.

Chutkan, during her concluding warning, went on to reference the Supreme Court’s 1966 ruling that found Sam Sheppard, who was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife, did not have a fair trial because of a “carnival atmosphere” surrounding his case.

“The more a party makes inflammatory statements about this case … the greater the urgency will be that we proceed to trial quickly,” Chutkan said.

She later added, “I will take whatever measures are necessary to safeguard the integrity of these proceedings.”