Hate Trump All You Like, The Gag Order Is Still Wrong
Who is Chutkan to dictate the contours of a presidential candidate s political speech? What if one of the participating government staff or a family member is compromised by partisanship? Moreover, preemptively suggesting that without gagging, Trump will engage in a smear campaign is as prejudicial to the case as any of the inflammatory things Trump has thrown around. It implies that any accusation now aimed at prosecutors is untrue.
Trump contends that he is being railroaded by special counsel Jack Smith, the longtime federal prosecutor who works on behalf of Democrats and Joe Biden. You might believe the special counsel is a chaste defender of Lady Justice, but there s ample evidence that partisan considerations are in play. Fears of a politicized justice department are real. As we speak, the head of the Democratic Party is being mollycoddled by the state in a very similar case involving classified documents.
Whatever the case, the Justice Department now plays a big part in Trump s campaign for the presidency and probably his legal case, as well. If the state s accusations can be spread throughout the media before a trial, why can t the defendant speak openly, as well?
The gag order is overbroad. A higher court will have to sort it out. Maybe that’s the DC Circuit, and maybe that’s the Supremes. What a mess.