Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan just issued A gag order against Donald Trump. It will prevent him from criticizing special counsel Jack Smith or his family, prosecutors, court staff, or witnesses.
That leaves Donald Trump with little opportunity to defend himself in the public square. At the same time, Jack Smith will continue to leak. We have no reason to think that will change.
President Trump is now barred from making statements targeting any of those people. He also cannot make any inflammatory statements about likely witnesses. That includes his primary opponents, especially Mike Pence.
NPR characterizes this as a partial win for the Department of Justice. It looks like a complete win to us.
“This is not about whether I like the language Mr. Trump uses. This is about language that presents a danger to the administration of justice,” Chutkan said from the bench.
That’s debatable. What isn’t debatable is that Judge Chutkan has many conflicts of interest.
In addition to alleged indirect ties to the Democrat Party and the Bidens, his attorneys requested her recusal for previous prejudicial comments.
“Judge Chutkan has, in connection with other cases, suggested that President Trump should be prosecuted and imprisoned,” Trump’s attorneys wrote in court filings.
“Such statements, made before this case began and without due process, are inherently disqualifying,” they continued. “Although Judge Chutkan may genuinely intend to give President Trump a fair trial — and may believe that she can do so — her public statements unavoidably taint these proceedings, regardless of outcome.”
That request was denied.
According to Julie Kelly, who has followed the J6 cases closely, Judge Chutkan has made public assertions that the 2020 election was beyond reproach, that the Jan. 6 protests were orchestrated by Trump, and that the former president is guilty of crimes. She has described Jan. 6 as a “mob attack” on “the very foundation of our democracy” and branded the issue at the heart of the case she is hearing – Trump’s claim that the 2020 election was stolen – a conspiracy theory.
Additionally, it’s unlikely. he will be judged by a fair jury and one of his peers in D.C.
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