Washington D.C. federal judge on Monday prohibited former President Donald Trump from making statements publicly targeting Jack Smith, prosecutors, court staff or their families, or about witnesses or their testimony.
“First Amendment protections yield to the administration of justice and to the protection of witnesses,” Judge Tanya Chutkan said Monday as she issued the gag order.
“His presidential candidacy does not give him carte blanche to vilify public servants who are simply doing their job.”
The decision from U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan followed a lengthy hearing in federal court in Washington, D.C., regarding a request from Smith and his team to limit what Trump can say about the case brought against him by the Justice Department.
According to CBS News, the prosecutors asked D.C. District Judge Tanya Chutkan last month to impose an order to prevent the former president from making “extrajudicial statements that present a serious and substantial danger of materially prejudicing this case.”
