On Oct. 16, former President Donald Trump was hit with a gag order by a federal district court in Washington, D.C. Trump’s legal team took the order to a higher court, and they asked the district court for a temporary stay on the order, pending appeal.
The district court granted Trump’s request for an administrative stay, giving both sides some more time to brief the court.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan paused the order Friday, only four days after issuing it.
Previously, Chutkan had partially granted the prosecution’s request for a gag order on Trump. She granted the prosecution’s request to bar Trump from targeting “potential witnesses, prosecutors, and court staff.”
However, the judge’s gag order still allowed Trump to continue “criticizing the government generally, including the current administration or the Department of Justice.” The judge also allowed political speech, including “statements asserting that Defendant is innocent of the charges against him, or that his prosecution is politically motivated.”
Chutkan, one of former President Barack Obama’s appointees, claimed she imposed the gag order to protect the witnesses. “First amendment protections yield to the administration of justice and to the protection of witnesses,” Chutkan said at a hearing earlier this month, according to The Hill.
Trump’s lawyers pointed out that Trump himself has yet to intimidate anyone.
“As the prosecution concedes, President Trump has not unlawfully threatened or harassed anyone,” Trump’s lawyers wrote. “Citizens of this country cannot be censored based on a fear of what others might do.”
Trump’s team asked for the order to be paused until a more permanent ruling from the appeals court. “This violation of the First Amendment is egregious and intolerable. Accordingly, pursuant to [court rules and procedural rules], the Court should immediately stay the Gag Order pending appeal,” they wrote.
In Friday’s filing, Trump’s lawyers asked Chutkan to make her decision by Tuesday, Oct. 24. Otherwise, Trump promised to ask a higher court for an emergency stay.
Chutkan granted Trump’s request, on the same day as the filing.
Over the weekend, the newly unrestricted Trump went on social media to discuss his relationship with the lawyer Sidney Powell, a potential witness who pleaded guilty in the Georgia RICO case. Trump said “Ms. Powell was not my attorney, and never was.”
“In fact, she would have been conflicted,” he claimed.
In Washington’s federal court, Trump has been arraigned on charges including conspiracy against rights, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.
Trump is facing a total of four criminal cases, each in a different court. He’s also facing a civil lawsuit in Manhattan.
The Horn editorial team