Judge imposes gag order on Donald Trump in D.C. trial

A federal judge has barred former President Donald Trump from attacking witnesses, prosecutors and court staff involved in his Washington, D.C., criminal case, imposing a gag order that sharply escalates the tension between Trump’s 2024 bid for the presidency and the realities of his status as a criminal defendant.

“First Amendment protections yield to the administration of justice and to the protection of witnesses,” Judge Tanya Chutkan said Monday as she issued the gag order. “His presidential candidacy does not give him carte blanche to vilify … public servants who are simply doing their job.”

For Trump, it’s one of the first tangible consequences of his brush with the criminal justice system, in this case on four felony charges related to his effort to subvert the 2020 election. Chutkan has scheduled Trump’s trial to begin on March 4 and emphasized Monday that the date would not change.

Chutkan’s order would require a significant shift in Trump’s public demeanor. He routinely uses his social media megaphone and rally speeches to assail his lead federal prosecutor, special counsel Jack Smith, as “deranged” and call his aides “thugs” — examples of commentary that Chutkan said risked poisoning the proceedings.

Trump, who opted to campaign in Iowa rather than attend the hearing, has also in recent weeks pointedly attacked several known witnesses in the case, suggesting that one of them — retired Gen. Mark Milley — would have warranted the death penalty in another era and repeatedly blasting former attorney general Bill Barr.

Acknowledging Trump’s broad right to weigh in on public policy issues as he pursues a second term in the White House, Chutkan said nevertheless that Trump could not launch a “pretrial smear campaign” against those who might testify against him. She said she would consider “sanctions” if she observes any violations, but she did not elaborate, although she said she planned to issue a written order with further details.

The pronouncement raises the prospect that Trump could face punishment — ranging from restrictions on social media to pretrial incarceration — if he continues to mount public attacks on Smith and his team or witnesses likely to testify.

Chutkan declined to impose restrictions on Trump’s ability to criticize Washington, D.C. or its residents or on his claims that the prosecution is part of a political vendetta on the part of the Biden administration, saying existing pretrial limits were sufficient.

The judge’s ruling followed a two-hour-long hearing in which Chutkan repeatedly sparred with Trump attorney John Lauro about the scope of any potential gag order and about the impact of Trump’s earlier provocative statements about potential witnesses and other participants in the D.C. election subversion case and other cases.

Lauro said early in the hearing that Trump would immediately appeal any order similar to the one prosecutors had requested.