District Judge Tanya Chutkan temporarily ended the gag order against former President Donald Trump that blocked him from speaking out against prosecutors.
Chutkan's move was announced following a motion by Trump's lawyers against the gag order.
Judge lifts Trump gag order in federal 2020 election and Jan. 6 case https://t.co/lDzkL9CCHI pic.twitter.com/jZOjdDEcOj
— New York Post (@nypost) October 21, 2023
“Upon consideration of Defendant’s opposed 110 Motion for Stay Pending Appeal, Request for Temporary Administrative Stay, and Memorandum in Support, it is hereby ORDERED that the court’s 105 Opinion and Order is administratively STAYED to permit the parties’ briefing and the court’s consideration of Defendant’s Motion,” Chutkan, 61, wrote in a short brief, according to the New York Post.
"She further ordered that special counsel Jack Smith’s team file any opposition to Trump’s motion for an extended stay of the gag order by Oct. 25, and that Trump’s team respond by Oct. 28," it added.
The judge overseeing the federal election interference case against Donald Trump has temporarily lifted the partial gag order imposed on the former president earlier this week. https://t.co/INjwXmdjIX
— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 21, 2023
"Trump's attorneys said in their filing Friday that the gag order was too constraining," according to NBC News.
"The witnesses that third parties listening to President Trump have supposedly intimidated—former Vice President Pence, former Attorney General Barr, and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley—are extremely high-level public figures who have voluntarily entered the public arena and invited the cut and thrust of public debate by openly criticizing President Trump," his lawyers argued.
In addition to the Washington gag order Trump has faced, he is also dealing with a similar order in his New York fraud case.
The New York issue arose after Trump claimed that the judge's law clerk was Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D-NY) girlfriend.
The post was removed but Trump was still fined $5,000 and threatened with jail time if he violated the gag order.
The ongoing legal threats continue as the former president seeks a return bid for the White where he could face a rematch next year against President Joe Biden.
