Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump attends a rally in Reno, Nevada, U.S. December 17, 2023.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
Former President Donald Trump on Monday requested a federal appeals court to rethink a ruling that upheld a gag order that limits what he can publicly say a couple of legal election interference case in Washington, D.C.
Trump’s rehearing petition argues that the gag order violates his First Amendment proper to free speech at a time when he’s the main Republican candidate for the presidency, and likewise violates Supreme Court choices.
The petition asks your complete 15-judge lineup of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in D.C. to rethink the Dec. 8 ruling by a three-judge panel on that court docket, which upheld however narrowed the gag order. Such so-called en banc petitions are not often granted.
“The [panel’s] opinion holds that President Trump should be silenced to shield trial members from potential threats or “harassment” from unrelated third events,’ ” Trump’s legal professionals wrote in their petition.
“In doing so, the opinion conflicts with choices of the Supreme Court and different Circuits, warranting en banc consideration each to safe uniformity of this Court’s choices and due to the query’s distinctive significance,” the attorneys wrote.
Regardless of the appeals court docket’s resolution, the Supreme Court nearly actually will probably be requested to evaluate the query of the gag order on Trump.
The preliminary gag order was issued in October by Judge Tanya Chutkan in a federal district court docket in Washington.
The order barred Trump from making public statements concentrating on Department of Justice particular counsel Jack Smith, who’s prosecuting Trump, in addition to Smith’s employees, court docket personnel, and “any fairly foreseeable witness or the substance of their testimony.”
In its Dec. 8 ruling, the appeals court docket panel stated Trump might make public feedback about Smith.
Trump is charged in the district court docket with illegally conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden.
Trump has pleaded not responsible in the case, which is one in all 4 pending legal prosecutions he faces.