Judge reinstates gag order on Donald Trump in election interference case

Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Less than two weeks after a gag order placed on Donald Trump was put on hold, a federal judge on Sunday ordered it be reinstated, barring the former president from publicly discussing the federal case accusing him of trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Specifics of the decision were not yet available, but Trump lambasted it online as an attack on his First Amendment right to free speech.

"NOT CONSTITUTIONAL!" he said on his Truth Social media platform.

Judge Tanya Chutkan had imposed the gag order Oct. 16, prohibiting the former president from making statements targeting special counsel Jack Smith and his team, as well as Chutkan's staff and other D.C. district court personnel.

Smith's team had asked for Trump to be silenced over his repeated online comments they said threatened witnesses and could contaminate the jury pool as well as incite the public concerning the upcoming 2024 presidential election, in which the former president is the leading candidate in the Republican primary race.

Only days after issuing the gag order, Chutkan temporarily suspended it at the request of Trump's counsel, who said they are appealing the decision. They also argued that it blocks Trump from criticizing some people involved in the political campaign against him.

But then on Wednesday, Smith asked that the gag order be reinstated after Trump made disparaging remarks online about his former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, who has been granted immunity to testify in the case.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to a four-count indictment filed by a Washington, D.C., grand jury in August accusing him of a leading a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to Joe Biden.