Former President Donald Trump asked the full D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Monday to consider his appeal of the gag order issued against him in his 2020 election case.
Earlier this month, a three-judge panel of the court largely upheld the gag order issued by District Judge Tanya Chutkan, adding some limits, such as lifting part of the order that prevented him from criticizing special counsel Jack Smith. Now, Trump is asking for a rehearing before the panel or a review of the decision from the full D.C. Circuit, as well as requesting the court pause the order while it considers his request.
Trump’s attorneys argue in his petition that the modified order still “suppresses large quantities of core political speech of direct relevance to the Presidential campaign.” (RELATED: ‘I Really Want An Answer’: Judges Spar With Trump Lawyer Opposing Gag Order)
“Among other things, it silences the leading candidate for President of the United States from making specific comments on the ‘potential participation’ of ‘reasonably foreseeable witnesses’ in this case—where the ‘reasonably foreseeable witnesses’ comprise major public figures who publicly attack President Trump amid his campaign, such as Vice President Pence, Attorney General Barr, and similar figures,” his attorneys wrote.
The panel’s ruling also contradicts prior decisions from the Supreme Court, Fifth Circuit and Sixth Circuit “on the standard for gagging a criminal defendant’s speech,” his lawyers wrote.
JUST IN: Donald Trump is asking the full bench of the court of appeals in D.C. to reconsider the appeal of Judge Chutkan’s gag order. pic.twitter.com/6rZ6za77qZ
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) December 18, 2023
The panel that heard Trump’s appeal included Obama-appointed Judges Cornelia Pillard and Patricia Millett, along with Biden-appointed Judge Bradley Garcia.
“Mr. Trump’s documented pattern of speech and its demonstrated real-time, real-world consequences pose a significant and imminent threat to the functioning of the criminal trial process in this case in two respects,” Millett wrote on Dec. 8 in the opinion of the court.
Trump’s attorneys also noted that the opinion “assumes that President Trump has no valid interest in speaking about prosecutors other than the Special Counsel.”
“This overlooks, for example, that one of those prosecutors raised concerns about undue political influence by meeting at the White House during the investigation— discussion of which constitutes core political speech,” they wrote.
Last week, special counsel Jack Smith asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on another question relating to his case against the former president: Trump’s claim to presidential immunity from prosecution. The Supreme Court asked Trump’s attorneys to respond by Wednesday.
Before Smith went straight to the Supreme Court, Trump appealed Chutkan’s denial of his claim to immunity to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
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