Judge Chutkan issued a limited gag order on Trump, which prohibits him from making vitriolic statements online about prosecutors, court staff and potential trial witnesses.
“There is a real risk that witnesses may be intimidated,” Chutkan said as she explained her decision from the bench, adding that just because Trump was a 2024 presidential candidate and the GOP nomination frontrunner did not give him free rein to “launch a pre-trial smear campaign”.
However, this does not prohibit Trump from attacking Biden, the US Justice Department or any of his varied ‘enemies.’
When the judge was asked about possible sanctions, she signaled she would wait until Trump broke the gag order.
Shortly after Chutkan’s ruling, Trump’s campaign office sent out a fundraising email calling the proposed gag order “an attempt to gag the American people.”