The Gag Order on Trump is a Chilling Assault on the First Amendment
Lost in the headlines that seem focused exclusively on the Hamas terrorist attack and Israel’s response, was a gag order issued by leftist U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, relating to the fake election interference case brought against President Trump.
It is difficult to keep track of all these phony indictments and specific charges, but in essence, this particular case revolves around the rigged 2020 election and the significant evidence that indicates the results were altered in several battleground states. In an effort to expose the nefarious activities that led to a suspect outcome, Trump looked to delay certification of the election until an investigation could be completed. Additionally, he called for a day of protest in Washington on January 6, 2021, which, despite Trump’s calls for peaceful conduct, spiraled into a semi-riot at the Capitol.
The effort to Silence Trump
In her ruling, Chutkan said that Trump is prohibited from making or reposting statements “publicly targeting” prosecutor Jack Smith, his staff, Chutkan’s staff or the staff of other D.C. Court personnel.
To justify the order, the judge issued a statement that said, “This is not about whether I like the language Mr. Trump uses. This is about language that presents a danger to the administration of justice.”
Apparently, Chutkan was sympathetic to a filing by Smith that claimed Trump was using inflammatory language, including descriptions of Smith as a “thug” and “deranged.” Smith believes Trump’s Truth Social posts threaten his safety and the safety of witnesses and court personnel. Using the flimsy excuse that “free speech is not absolute,” Chutkan covered for the obvious intent to influence the 2024 election. Chutkan claims that he (Trump) “has to yield to the administration of justice, and even if that means he can’t say exactly what he wants to say in a political speech, that is just how it’s going to have to be.”
Naturally, Trump’s legal team immediately appealed the ruling, but that’s not the point. In fact, what Chutkan is trying to do is silence the leading opposition candidate from expressing his views in an election year. The fraudulent 2020 election is a primary topic in the current campaign, and Trump should be free to exercise his first amendment rights in exposing the leftist plot to interfere with the 2024 election cycle.
The indictment contains four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights.
According to legal scholars, the case is exceptionally weak. Jonathan Turley had this to say about the indictment: “The most jarring thing about this indictment is it basically just accuses him of disinformation — this is a disinformation indictment. It said (Trump) was spreading falsehoods, that [he] was undermining integrity of the election — that is all part of the First Amendment. And I think that courts will look skeptically.”
Zach Smith, Heritage Foundation legal fellow and former assistant U.S. attorney seemed incredulous about the gag order: “Not only have we never before had a former president or leading presidential candidate being indicted in four different felony cases with 91 counts across those four cases, but we’ve also never, to my knowledge, had a leading presidential candidate who has had a gag order issued against him basically limiting what he’s allowed to say on the campaign trail.”
Naturally, President Trump was incensed over the ruling and vowed to fight it on Truth Social.
Another in a Relentless Series of Assaults
Each of the indictments against President Trump has its own absurdity, and in this case, it’s the idea that somehow, it is a crime for someone to question the validity of an election. In truth, Trump has the right to say anything he wants about election conduct and results, even if its disinformation, which in this case, it wasn’t. Short of threatening Smith or another person associated with the case, Trump also has the right to call Smith any derogatory name he chooses. The notion that Trump’s insistence that the election was rigged somehow led to the January 6th semi-riot is outrageous, especially since there is visual and verbal evidence that he asked for peace and calm.
It also ignores the fact that the January 6th semi-riot had nothing to do with President Trump. Those people were not protesting against him, they were protesting against a rigged election and psychotic woke policies that continue to degrade their lives and make good parenting virtually impossible.
In essence, the government wants to criminalize the act of exposing election interference in public, although it’s important to remember that it was perfectly fine for Democrats to do so in 2016 when Trump was victorious.
The question is, how long are we going to tolerate this nonsense? The act of supporting Trump’s bid for the presidency in 2024 is certainly one way to protest against an oppressive, authoritarian government, but what if he loses again, and then they put him in jail?
Watching unfolding events in the Middle East is important, but we all better start thinking about the consequences of another rigged election in 2024.
