Jack Smith

The decision by attorney Sidney Powell to accept a plea deal in Georgia to avoid jail time in return for testifying for prosecutors in a wide-ranging racketeering trial that includes Donald Trump will have major implications for the former president's other trials.

That is the opinion of CNN legal analyst Elie Honig who stated Powell will now become a valuable witness for Special Counsel Jack Smith's pursuit of the former president in a Washington, D.C., courtroom.

Attorneys for Donald Trump on Tuesday filed notice that their client would appeal an order preventing him from criticizing certain people connected to his election interference trial.

In a written order on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said that Trump must refrain from talking about special counsel Jack Smith, witnesses, or court officials. Chutkan said Trump's remarks caused "grave threats" to others.

Judge Tanya Chutkan responded favorably to a request from Jack Smith when she imposed a partial gag order on former President Donald Trump in the special counsel's 2020 election interference case.

Trump and his allies are slamming the gag order as a violation of Trump's 1st Amendment rights. But MSNBC's Steve Benen, in a MaddowBlog opinion column published on October 17, lays out some reasons why Chutkan's ruling is perfectly constitutional.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan accused former President Donald Trump of making "grave threats" in an order that bars him from attacking special counsel Jack Smith, witnesses, and others in his federal election interference case.

In a court hearing on Monday, Chutkan first announced that she was imposing a limited gag order. She cited social media posts in which Trump suggested that public figures should be executed.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon cautioned special counsel Jack Smith because Donald Trump's legal team was not given "timely" access to classified documents in Florida.

Smith had reportedly asked to create a secure facility in Washington, D.C., where the defense could view some of the classified documents in question in the case.

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough warned that Donald Trump was not likely to find anyone to bail him out of the gag order imposed on him in the Jan. 6 case.

The former president has vowed to appeal the narrow restrictions that District judge Tanya Chutkan placed over his public comments on the criminal case, which includes prohibitions on statements targeting special counsel Jack Smith and his staff, Chutkan's staff and other D.C. district court personnel, and the "Morning Joe" host doesn't believe Trump will find a receptive audience at any level.

Judge Aileen Cannon is being blamed for the recent implosion of a hearing for Donald Trump's bodyman, Walt Nauta.

Nauta served as the personal aide of Trump's, catering to his needs and demands. That appeared to extend to classified documents, the court filing from special counsel Jack Smith said in the indictment documents. Nauta's hearing ended abruptly when Assistant Special Counsel David Harbach raised issues that weren't in the government's briefs. Nauta's lawyer explained he hadn't been able to discuss the matter with his client, wrote Lawfare's Roger Parloff.

Former President Donald Trump complained about the new gag order imposed on him in the D.C. election interference trial by Judge Tanya Chutkan during a campaign stop in Iowa Monday.

"I'm not supposed to be talking about things that bad people do," Trump complained.

A spokesperson for former President Donald Trump reacted to restrictions on his speech by a judge hearing the federal election interference case against him Monday.

The remarks came after U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Monday issued a limited gag order preventing Trump from targeting witnesses, court staff or special counsel Jack Smith.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Monday issued a limited gag order preventing former President Donald Trump from attacking special counsel Jack Smith, his family, court staff or possible witnesses.

Chutkan's ruling came after an hours-long hearing, with Trump attorney John Lauro arguing that the order was unnecessary.