Appeals Court Temporarily Lifts Gag Order on Trump in Federal Election Obstruction Case: 19 Key Takeaways

In case you missed this late yesterday (Friday), a three-judge appeals court panel paused the federal gag order imposed on Donald Trump by DC Judge Tanya Chutkan

Here are 19 takeaways.

1. Two of the appeals court judges were appointed by Obama, while one was appointed by Biden.

2. With the ruling, Trump has been allowed to criticize the prosecutors, witnesses, and court staff involved in his federal election obstruction case in D.C. temporarily.

3. The federal appeals court said it suspended Chutkan's gag order against Trump while it assesses his claim that the restrictions infringe on his First Amendment rights (ahead of 2024).

4. Lawyers for Trump and Special Counsel Jack Smith have been asked to submit briefs in the next three weeks.

5. That means they will submit briefs by the end of this month, and the ruling might follow next month, December, right before the first GOP primary election.

6. Trump argued that the restrictions on his speech were too vague and lacked evidence of harassment or intimidation resulting from his words.

7. Recall that on October 29, DC federal judge, Tanya S. Chutkan, reinstated a gag order on Trump.

8. The gag order restricts what Mr. Trump can say about witnesses and prosecutors in a case where he is accused of seeking to overturn the 2020 election in Washington D.C.

9. This is different from the gag order in New York, which limits what he can say there about court staff.

10. In DC, the gag order was temporarily placed on hold for nine days before being reinstated on October 29 late at night.

11. Mr. Trump's lawyers had requested a longer freeze on the gag order while a federal appeals court in Washington reviewed it, but Judge Chutkan denied that request.

12. The gag order, therefore, remained in effect until yesterday when it was paused.

13. Trump's legal team had argued that the gag order violates his First Amendment rights and silences him during a crucial period when he is positioning himself as the leading candidate for the 2024 presidential election.

14. However, the special counsel Jack Smith's team contended that despite Trump running for president, he did not have permission to issue public statements that could threaten or intimidate individuals involved in the election interference case, especially if those statements might incite violence among readers or listeners.

15. The gag order in New York is related to a civil case where Trump is accused of allegedly fraudulently inflating the value of his real estate holdings. In contrast, the gag order in Washington, D.C., is associated with a criminal case involving his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

16. In the New York civil case, Justice Arthur F. Engoron imposed a $10,000 fine on Mr. Trump for violating the gag order (in court), which bars him from going after members of the court's staff. This fine followed a previous $5,000 fine imposed by Justice Engoron in the same case (for a post on Truth Social.)

17. In Washington DC, Jack Smith's team told the judge to reinstate the gag order because Trump had also violated the frozen order by twice making public comments about Mark Meadows, his former chief of staff, who could appear as a witness in the case.

18. “The defendant has capitalized on the court’s administrative stay to, among other prejudicial conduct, send an unmistakable and threatening message” to Mr. Meadows, prosecutors wrote to Judge Chutkan. “Unless the court lifts the administrative stay, the defendant will not stop his harmful and prejudicial attacks,” they added.

19. On October 29, the judge sided with them and reinstated the gag order. But late yesterday, the appeals court paused it.

My take: Trump says Chutkan is biased against him, asked her to recuse, and to extend a gag order freeze during appeals, both denied. Trump argues this silencing during a presidential election is unjust and unconstitutional, but the judge ruled otherwise, sparking concerns of election interference!