Judge Tanya Chutkan's gag order on Trump upheld in appeals court ruling

An appeals court Friday upheld key parts of the gag order against former President Donald Trump in his Washington D.C. election inference case, court records show.

The Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a 68-page ruling affirming Judge Tanya Chutkan's order banning Trump from speaking publicly about potential witnesses, case lawyers (excluding Special Counsel Jack Smith), court staff and their families.

"We do not allow such an order lightly," U.S. Circuit Court Judge Patricia Millet wrote. "Mr. Trump is a former President and current candidate for the presidency, and there is a strong public interest in what he has to say."

Trump is not barred from criticizing the Biden administration, the Justice Department or Smith. The presidential candidate is also free to claim political motivations are the cause of the charges against him, to which he has pleaded not guilty.

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But ultimately the justices ruled they could not ignore his position as a defendant.

"Mr. Trump is also an indicted criminal defendant, and he must stand trial in a courtroom under the same procedures that govern all other criminal defendants," they wrote. "That is what the rule of law means."