Trump gag order appeal faces skeptical reception in US court

U.S. appeals court judges on Monday signaled skepticism toward a request by Donald Trump's lawyers to overturn a gag order imposed on the former president in a federal criminal case accusing him of illegally trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

U.S. appeals court judges on Monday signaled skepticism toward a request by Donald Trump's lawyers to overturn a gag order imposed on the former president in a federal criminal case accusing him of illegally trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat. As Trump lawyer D. John Sauer argued that the ban violates the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment free speech rights, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia asked whether Trump's charged rhetoric threatened the integrity of his upcoming trial.

"I don't hear you giving any weight at all to the interests in a fair trial. Am I right that you don't?" Judge Cornelia Pillard asked Sauer. Justice Department lawyer Cecil VanDevender told the hearing that the gag order "addressed a significant and immediate risk to the fairness and integrity of the proceedings."

Pillard, like the other two judges hearing the appeal, is a Democratic judicial appointee. Trump is the current frontrunner for the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden in the 2024 U.S. election. As he mounts his comeback bid, Trump has leveled attacks on prosecutors, court officials and others involved in the welter of criminal and civil cases he faces.

The charges in the case were brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland last year. Trump has called Smith a "deranged lunatic" and a "thug," among other insults. U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, overseeing the federal election-interference case in Washington, ruled that Trump's statements could influence witnesses and lead to threats against lawyers and other public officials. The judge has forbidden Trump and his lawyers to criticize prosecutors, court staff and potential witnesses.

Her order has been suspended during Trump's appeal. Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case, as well as all three other criminal cases. "The order is unprecedented and it sets a terrible precedent on future restrictions on core political speech," Sauer told the judges.

BAN IN SEPARATE TRIAL LIFTED A similar restriction in a separate civil business fraud case in New York was temporarily lifted by a state appeals court judge last week. Trump promptly resumed his attacks on a court clerk involved in the case.

In social media posts and presidential campaign appearances, Trump has said court officials and others involved in his legal woes are politically biased, leading to fears that they could face physical threats from his supporters. The case is set to go to trial in Washington in March 2024, during the height of the Republican nominating contest. Opinion polls show Trump leading his Republican rivals by a wide margin.

Trump is charged with conspiring to interfere with the official tally of the 2020 presidential race, which he lost to Biden. Trump has accused Biden's administration of weaponizing the U.S. legal system against him. The indictment accuses Trump and his allies of promoting false claims the election was rigged, pressuring officials to alter the results and assembling fake slates of electors to try to wrest electoral votes from Biden.

Trump has also pleaded not guilty in three other criminal cases, including a Georgia case that also charges him with conspiring to overturn the election.