ACLU Backs Trump Fight to Remove Gag Order

Apparently, hell has just frozen over.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), on Wednesday, said it will file an amicus brief to support Donald Trump in his fight to have the gag order removed that was placed on him in the January 6 election interference case.

The order was issued by Judge Chutkan at the behest of Special Counsel Jack Smith.

Shut Him Up

Smith has argued that Donald Trump is using his social media accounts and interviews to target witnesses in his case.

Initially, Chutkan agreed and issued a limited gag order.

Trump’s legal team then filed an appeal against the order, at which time Chutkan agreed to stay her initial order while the appeals process played out.

Wednesday, the ACLU announced that it would be filing the amicus brief on Trump’s behalf to support Trump’s claim that the gag order is unconstitutional.

The brief, however, was not very complimentary to Trump, with ACLU senior staff attorney Brett Kaufman writing that Trump’s statements have been "patently false" and have "caused great harm to countless individuals, as well as to the Republic itself."

It continues, "But Trump retains a First Amendment right to speak, and the rest of us retain a right to hear what he has to say.”

Trump also has a limited gag order on him for the New York fraud case presented by the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Trump has violated that order numerous times, resulting in several warnings and two fines, one of $5,000 and another of $10,000. Judge Engoron has also warned Trump that further violations will result in more significant penalties, and possibly jail time.

The first violation was for leaving a post on Trump’s campaign website that referred to the court clerk as Senator Schumer’s (D.N.Y.) girlfriend. The second fine was for comments made by Trump, which he claims were about Michael Cohen, but Judge Engoron did not believe Trump, believing the comments were again about his clerk.