WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A federal judge on Monday barred Donald Trump from targeting U.S. prosecutors, court staff and potential witnesses involved in a criminal case accusing him of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington said she would not allow the former U.S. president, who has pleaded not guilty, to “launch a pretrial smear campaign” against people involved in the case.
“No other criminal defendant would be allowed to do so, and I’m not going to allow it in this case,” Chutkan said as she issued the order.
The order bars Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, and attorneys in the case from personally targeting Special Counsel Jack Smith, prosecutors working with him and court staff. It also prevents Trump from discussing potential witnesses as it relates to their testimony at trial.
The ruling followed a two-hour hearing where the judge grilled a Trump lawyer about social media posts from Trump in recent weeks in which he referred to Smith as a “thug,” the city of Washington as a “filthy crime-ridden embarrassment” and suggested former top U.S. General Mark Milley committed an offense that would have once warranted death.
“This not about whether I like the language Mr. Trump uses,” Chutkan said. “It’s about language that presents a danger to the administration of justice.”
Trump lawyer John Lauro opposed any request to rein in Trump’s statements, arguing that it would amount to censorship during a presidential campaign.
Trump has shown success in using the many legal threats he faces to raise money for his campaign.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Scott Malone, Will Dunham, Nick Zieminski and Jonathan Oatis)
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