Trump's attempt to fight gag order backfired in spectacular fashion: legal experts

Former President Donald Trump tried very hard to overturn the limited gag order issued by Judge Tanya Chutkan -- but two legal experts believe that his efforts have only put him in a worse legal position than before.

Norman Eisen, a former impeachment counsel to the House Judiciary Committee and Joshua Kolb, a former law clerk on the Senate Judiciary Committee, argued in a new column for MSNBC that Trump has not only forced Chutkan's hand in reinstating the gag order, but had also made it much more likely that the order would be upheld upon appeal.

In particular, they said that Trump's behavior after Chutkan issued a temporary stay of her own gag order was more than enough to justify clamping down on the twice-impeached, four-time-indicted former president.

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"In the short time since the gag order was stayed, Trump has unleashed a number of threatening statements, notably including those directed at his former chief of staff Mark Meadows," they argued. "He was at the center of nearly all of Trump’s allegedly criminal behavior to overturn the results of the 2020 election, making him almost certainly a key witness in the upcoming trial."

Since publicly attacking prospective witnesses to your alleged crimes is a definite no-no, they write, Trump gave courts little choice but to uphold the DOJ's gag order request.

"At the end of the day, Trump will likely lose his appeal — ironically because of the very record he has created since the stay was entered," they conclude. "As has often been the case in Trump’s interactions with the law, he may be his own worst enemy."