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Former President Donald Trump said he will appeal a gag order imposed on him Monday in a federal criminal case in which he is charged with attempting to overturn the 2020 election, saying the judge’s restriction on his speech is “so unconstitutional.”
Mr. Trump said his critics do not understand that he is willing to “go to jail” in the name of doing what is right.
Speaking to supporters in Adel, Iowa, Mr. Trump said the gag order imposed by U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, an Obama appointee, is unprecedented.
“I will be the only politician in history that runs with a gag order where I am not allowed to criticize people. Do you believe this?” said Mr. Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. “I am not allowed to criticize people. We will appeal it.”
At his second stop Monday, Mr. Trump said the judge “doesn’t like me too much,” and said “her whole life is not liking me.”
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“What they don’t understand is I am willing to go to jail if that is what it takes for our country to win and become a democracy again,” he said, sparking cheers from the crowd.
Before the decision, Mr. Trump spent weeks targeting special counsel Jack Smith, attacking the courts and the judicial system as politically motivated to derail his campaign.
The former president steered clear of those sorts of attacks Monday at his first campaign stop after the gag order was imposed. He did, however, reiterate his criticism of the Justice Department, saying it has been weaponized against him.
“I got indicted more than Alphonse Capone,” Mr. Trump said. “I am not supposed to be talking about things that bad people do.”
Also on Monday, Mr. Trump notched the endorsement of Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird.
Mr. Trump faces a raft of criminal charges over trying to cover up payments to a porn star, the mishandling of classified documents, and interfering in the 2020 election results.
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Judge Chutkan’s partial gag order ordered him to stop attacking witnesses, prosecutors, and court staff involved in the 2020 election case. It’s the most serious restriction a court has placed on Mr. Trump’s speech.
It may be only the beginning of an unprecedented fight over what limits can be placed on the speech of a defendant who is also campaigning for America’s highest public office.
Speaking from the bench, Judge Chutkan said Mr. Trump is entitled to criticize the Justice Department generally and assert his belief that the case is politically motivated, but can’t mount a “smear campaign” against prosecutors and court personnel.
“No other criminal defendant would be allowed to do so, and I’m not going to allow it in this case,” Judge Chutkan said.
The judge said she would impose “sanctions as may be necessary” if the gag order is violated, but she wasn’t more specific. Judges can threaten gag order violators with fines or jail time, but jailing a presidential candidate could prompt serious political blowback and pose logistical hurdles.
Trump lawyer John Lauro fiercely opposed any gag order, saying Mr. Trump is entitled to criticize prosecutors and “speak truth to oppression.”
“He is allowed to make statements the prosecution doesn’t like. That’s part of living with the First Amendment,” said Mr. Lauro, who declined to comment on the ruling after the hearing.
Mr. Smith’s team argued that Mr. Trump knows that his incendiary remarks — calling the justice system “rigged,” Judge Chutkan a “Trump-hating judge,” and prosecutors a “team of thugs” — could inspire his supporters to threaten or harass his targets. Prosecutors said it is part of Mr. Trump’s effort to erode the public’s faith in the judicial system just like they say he sought to undermine confidence in the 2020 election by spreading lies of fraud after he lost to Mr. Biden.
“What Mr. Lauro is saying is the defendant is above the law and he is not subject to the rules of this court like any other defendant is,” prosecutor Molly Gaston told the judge. “All this order would do is prevent him from using the campaign as an opportunity to make materially prejudicial statements about this case.”
The judge repeatedly pushed back against claims from the defense that prosecutors were seeking to censor Mr. Trump’s political speech. Judge Chutkan said Mr. Trump “does not have a right to say and do exactly as he pleases.”
“You keep talking about censorship like the defendant has unfettered First Amendment rights. He doesn’t,” she told Mr. Lauro. “We’re not talking about censorship here. We’re talking restrictions to ensure there is a fair administration of justice on this case.”
The Trump campaign said the gag order is bogus and sent out a fundraising email Monday in response to the ruling.
“Today’s decision is an absolute abomination and another partisan knife stuck in the heart of our Democracy by Crooked Joe Biden, who was granted the right to muzzle his political opponent, the leading candidate for the Presidency in 2024, and the most popular political leader in America, President Donald J. Trump,” Trump spokesperson Steven Chueng said. “President Trump will continue to fight for our Constitution, the American people’s right to support him, and to keep our country free of the chains of weaponized and targeted law enforcement.”
In the fundraising email, Mr. Trump alerted his supporters that a “GAG ORDER HAS OFFICIALLY BEEN IMPOSED ON ME AT THE REQUEST OF JOE BIDEN.”
“WHILE I AM RESTRICTED IN WHAT I CAN SAY RIGHT NOW, HERE IS MY ONE MESSAGE TO THE PUBLIC … MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Mr. Trump said in the fundraising email. “THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION CAN TRY AND GAG ME, BUT THEY CAN *NEVER* GAG THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!”
— This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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