In a late Sunday filing, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan—who is in charge of Donald Trump’s election meddling case—threw the former president a lifeline.
According to Newsweek, Chutkan denied the Department of Justice’s bid to arrest Trump for breaking a gag order she had placed back on him. The judge rejected the request of federal prosecutors to include the gag order in the terms of Trump’s release, and instead reinstated it in a footnote.
“The court determines that granting the request is not necessary to effectively enforce the order at this time, even if it is procedurally correct,” the author wrote.
The order declared that “the right to a fair trial is not [Trump’s] alone but belongs also to the government and the public,” lifting the interim stay she had placed on her earlier gag order.
CNN said, “Trumpan also rejected Trump’s request to grant a long-term stay of the order, which prohibits the former president from publicly targeting court staff, possible witnesses, or the special counsel’s team while his appeal of it played out.”
Michael McAuliffe, an elected state attorney and former federal prosecutor, told the publication that the judge was probably just being “careful and deliberate” in her decision because the case has attracted a lot of attention.
Newsweek was informed by McAuliffe that “she certainly knows her every action, including small decisions about the gag order, will be scrutinised and appealed.” She is therefore adopting a distinctly gradual strategy. A wise judge will hold off on making decisions until the time is right.
In order to “give the parties more time to brief her on the former president’s request to pause the order while his appeal of it plays out,” CNN reported earlier this month that Chutkan had temporarily halted the gag order she had previously granted against the 45th president.
According to the publication, Chutkan further stated that Trump would have until the following Saturday to respond to the government’s filing and that the Justice Department had until Wednesday to address his request for a lengthier suspension on the gag order. Trump’s lawyers requested Chutkan to halt the gag order in a 33-page document on Friday. Trump has already challenged the order to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.
CNN said that Trump had already appealed the gag order to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals and that his lawyers had asked Chutkan to halt the injunction in a 33-page petition on Friday while the appeal was pending.
On Sunday, following her re-imposition, Trump vented on his Truth Social platform.
“I just learned that the very Biassed, Trump Hating Judge in D.C., who should have recused herself due to her blatant and open loathing of your favourite President, ME, has reimposed a GAG ORDER which will put me at a disadvantage against my prosecutorial and political opponents,” he wrote.
Many legal experts believe that this order is unthinkable. In the midst of my presidential campaign, in which I am leading both parties in the polls, it unlawfully and unconstitutionally denies me the right to freely express myself,” he continued.