Judge Imposes Limited Gag Order on Trump in Federal Election-Interference Case

A federal judge Monday restricted what Donald Trump can say about his election-interference prosecution in Washington, saying the former president’s free-speech rights aren’t greater than those of other criminal defendants just because he is making another bid for the White House.

“This is not about whether I like the language Mr. Trump uses,” U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said, “This is about language that presents a danger to the administration of justice.”

The partial gag order, which Chutkan said she would outline further in court filings, sought to balance Trump’s First Amendment rights with prosecutors’ concerns that his frequent social-media attacks would intimidate witnesses and jeopardize the integrity of the case.

She agreed with prosecutors’ request to bar Trump from making threatening comments about special counsel Jack Smith and his team or targeting their families, for example, but also set no new limits on his ability to criticize the Biden administration or blast the charges as politically motivated.