U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan has lifted the gag order she issued Donald Trump on Monday, which initially banned the former president from making public statements that attack special counsel Jack Smith, the lead prosecutor in Trump’s January 6 case.
“Upon consideration of Defendant’s opposed 110 Motion for Stay Pending Appeal, Request for Temporary Administrative Stay, and Memorandum in Support, it is hereby ORDERED that the court’s 105 Opinion and Order is administratively STAYED to permit the parties’ briefing and the court’s consideration of Defendant’s Motion,” Chutkan said in a statement on Friday.
Trump’s attorneys appealed the partial gag order, which prevented Trump from criticizing prosecutors and court personnel, on Tuesday and asked Chutkan on Friday to freeze the order pending appeal. Lawyers now have time to defend why Trump’s speech should be unrestricted leading up to his March 4, 2024 trial date.
“No Court in American history has imposed a gag order on a criminal defendant who is campaigning for public office — least of all, on the leading candidate for President of the United States,” Trump’s lawyers said in their motion.
Although Trump lawyers claim that gag orders seek to “muzzle” the Republican frontrunner’s presidential campaign, Chutkan said that speech restrictions “ensure there is a fair administration of justice on this case.” Trump’s right to free speech doesn’t allow him to “vilify and implicitly encourage violence against public servants who are simply doing their jobs,” she said this week.
Chutkan stayed the gag order on the same day that the New York judge proceeding over Trump’s civil fraud trial fined him $5,000 for violating a similar order. After Tump made “disparaging” comments about a court clerk, Judge Arthur Engoron placed him under a gag rule on October 3.
“Make no mistake: Future violations, whether intentional or unintentional, will subject the violator to far more severe sanctions, which may include, but are not limited to, steeper financial penalties, holding Donald Trump in contempt of court, and possibly imprisoning him,” Engoron said on Friday.