Trump asks full court to reconsider Jan. 6 gag order appeal

Former President Trump on Monday again challenged a gag order in his election interference case, asking the full appeals court to lift restrictions put in place by a three-judge panel.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month largely upheld a gag order put in place by Judge Tanya Chutkan, barring Trump from any statements “made with the intent to materially interfere with, or to cause others to materially interfere with” the course of the case.

In asking for reconsideration of his effort to strike down the gag order, Trump’s attorneys repeated their arguments that his status as a presidential candidate undercuts his ability to carry out a campaign while seeking to diminish the threats and attacks from his supporters that follow charged speech.

Trump’s team said the court must decide “whether a district court may gag the core political speech of the leading candidate for President of the United States—disregarding the First Amendment rights of over 100 million American voters—based on speculation about undefined possible future harms to the judicial process.”

Chutkan, who is overseeing Trump’s Jan. 6 trial following an indictment brought by special counsel Jack Smith, had barred the former president from making statements that “target” those involved in the case, including Smith.

The panel decision refined that, opening Smith up to criticism from Trump while also seeking to limit any speech that could constitute witness intimidation, cast into doubt their credibility, or interfere with the case. 

But the panel took pains to note the effects of Trump’s speech.

“Mr. Trump’s documented pattern of speech and its demonstrated real-time, real-world consequences pose a significant and imminent threat to the functioning of the criminal trial process in this case,” the court found.

The judges cited the “torrent of threats and intimidation” leveled at those Trump singles out by way of his supporters, writing some messages are designed to “generate alarm and dread.”