On Friday, a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., largely maintained but narrowed the gag order put on former President Donald Trump in his election interference case, barring him from criticizing possible witnesses and prosecutors.
Critically, it allows Donald Trump to legally criticize Special Prosecutor Jack Smith.
“We agree with the district court that some aspects of Mr. Trump’s public statements pose a significant and imminent threat to the fair and orderly adjudication of the ongoing criminal proceeding, warranting a speech-constraining protective order,” the appeals court ruled. “The district court’s order, however, sweeps in more protected speech than is necessary. For that reason, we affirm the district court’s order in part and vacate it in part.”
The gag order prohibits Trump and his attorneys from making “public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses concerning their potential participation in the investigation or in this criminal proceeding.”
It also affirmed the provision of the order that barred Trump and his lawyers from making public statements regarding the case’s lawyers, court personnel, special counsel personnel, or their family members. Special counsel Jack Smith is the one exception. According to the appeals court, the injunction “should not have restricted speech about the