Trump bashes judge in Jan. 6 case after she reinstates limited gag order against him
The limited gag order prohibits Trump from making specific attacks.
Former President Donald Trump lashed out Monday at the judge overseeing his federal election interference case after she reinstated a limited gag order prohibiting him from attacking some of those involved in the case.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Sunday night reinstated the limited gag order she imposed on Trump after temporarily halting it earlier this month.
She originally granted the limited gag order on Oct. 16 to prohibit Trump from making or reposting statements "publicly targeting" potential witnesses in the case and the substance of their potential testimony, as well as statements targeting special counsel Jack Smith and his staff, Chutkan's staff, and the staff of other D.C. district court personnel.
She then temporarily halted the limited gag order four days later, after Trump appealed the ruling.
Trump, responding on his Truth Social platform to the reinstatement of the limited gag order Monday, called Chutkan a "TRUE TRUMP HATER" and criticized her ability to preside over a fair trial.
In other posts, Trump complained about the timing of his indictments and falsely accused President Joe Biden of ordering them.
Chutkan's limited gag order does not specifically prohibit Trump from targeting her or Biden.
In her opinion accompanying the reinstatement of the limited gag order, Chutkan wrote that Trump's most recent comments on his former chief of staff, Mark Meadows -- in which Trump responded to ABC News' reporting that Meadows had earlier this year received immunity to speak with investigators -- would "almost certainly" have violated her gag order had it been in place at the time.
Trump's statement "singles out a foreseeable witness for purposes of characterizing his potentially unfavorable testimony as a 'lie' that was 'mad[e] up' to secure immunity, and it attacks him as a 'weakling' and 'coward' if he provides that unfavorable testimony -- an attack that could readily be interpreted as an attempt to influence or prevent the witness's participation in this case," the judge writes.
Trump in August pleaded not guilty to charges of undertaking a "criminal scheme" to overturn the results of the 2020 election by enlisting a slate of so-called "fake electors," using the Justice Department to conduct "sham election crime investigations," trying to enlist the vice president to "alter the election results," and promoting false claims of a stolen election as the Jan. 6 riot raged -- all in an effort to subvert democracy and remain in power.
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