Judge Sutgen reinstated restrictions on Trump’s public statements in the election interference trial

A federal judge on Sunday reinstated a narrowly curtailed order barring former President Trump from making public comments targeting lawyers, potential witnesses or court employees.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan — who is overseeing a federal case related to efforts to interfere in the 2020 presidential election — released the decision in a public court docket on Sunday, but her reason was not immediately available. reported A “glitch” in the computer system. Definitions of restored cock order are also not available.

Sudkan’s decision to bar him from making certain public statements comes nine days after Trump and his legal team temporarily pulled the plug to allow him to appeal the ruling. The gag order was first imposed on Oct. 16.

The dispute between Trump’s legal team and the Department of Justice (DOJ) over the legality of the gag order has been tense and has gone through several rounds of arguments.

Trump’s team has argued that the gag order violates Trump’s First Amendment rights and comes just as his campaign for president kicks into high gear.

Ultimately, Sutgen made his decision Sunday after prosecutors presented evidence that Trump had targeted witnesses in recent social media posts.

Oct. 25 in court FilingCiting multiple records, the attorneys said, “Based on the defendant’s recent social media posts targeting a known witness in this case in an attempt to influence and intimidate him, the court should lift the administrative stay and modify the conditions of the defendant’s release. Harmful and discriminatory conduct.”

In a social media post on Trump’s Truth social site, Biden responded to Trump’s reinstatement of the gag order, blaming the decision on the administration and saying the move was unconstitutional.

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“The corrupt Biden administration took away my First Amendment right to free speech. Not the Constitution! Make America Great Again…” he wrote on Truth Social.

Trump’s legal team called the order an emergency.

Trump was fined $10,000 last week in a civil fraud trial in New York after a judge found he violated a separate gag order.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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