Appeals Court Likely To Uphold Trump’s J6 Gag Order

The New York Times reports:

A federal appeals court in Washington appeared to signal at a hearing on Monday that it would keep in place at least some version of the gag order placed on former President Donald J. Trump in the criminal case accusing him of plotting to overturn the 2020 election.

But a three-judge panel of the court left open the possibility of adjusting the terms of the order or even narrowing the scope of the people covered by it, including by potentially freeing Mr. Trump to attack Jack Smith, the special counsel overseeing the federal cases against him.

The trial judge, Tanya S. Chutkan, imposed the gag order in October in Federal District Court in Washington, forbidding Mr. Trump from publicly maligning any prosecutors, potential witnesses or court employees involved in the case.

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The gag order argument in our nation’s second highest court is … not going well for criminal defendant Donald Trump.

— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) November 20, 2023

Judge MILLETT (I think) sharply questions Trump’s premise, saying his gag order standard would require Trump to literally break the law before a gag order is permissible. But his pretrial release conditions already forbid him to break the law, she notes.

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) November 20, 2023

GARCIA: “We have a past pattern. When the defendant speaks on this subject, threats follow … we’re months out from the trial. This is predictably going to intensify … Why does the district court have to wait and see, wait for the threats to come?”

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) November 20, 2023