A federal appeals court in Washington, DC, on Friday upheld a gag order on former President Donald Trump in his 2020 election interference case but placed fewer restrictions on his speech. The 2024 Republican frontrunner is permitted to disparage special counsel Jack Smith, who indicted Trump in August on four counts of allegedly making "knowingly false" election claims while trying to overturn his defeat by Joe Biden. But the three-judge panel upheld the ban imposed by Judge Tanya Chutkan on public statements by Trump concerning known or "reasonably foreseeable" witnesses' potential participation in the case.

"By broadly proscribing any statements about or directed to the Special Counsel and the court's and counsel's staffs, as well as reasonably foreseeable witnesses or their testimony, the Order sweeps too broadly," the judges said in their opinion. "It captures some constitutionally protected speech that lacks the features or content that would trench upon the court's proper functioning or ability to administer justice."

The court had previously paused the gag order while it considered Trump's motion for appeal. Trump, 77, and his defense team have described the gag order as unconstitutional and unprecedented, since he is the only criminal defendant to be slapped with one while campaigning for public office. He may still appeal the ruling to the full DC appeals court or to the Supreme Court in a bid to get the gag order overturned completely.

"Today, the DC Circuit Court panel, with each judge appointed by a Democrat President, determined that a huge part of Judge Chutkan's extraordinarily overbroad gag order was unconstitutional," Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement. "President Trump will continue to fight for the First Amendment rights of tens of millions of Americans to hear from the leading Presidential candidate at the height of his campaign. The Biden-led witch hunts against President Trump and the American people will fail."

A four-judge panel on a New York appeals court also upheld a gag order on the former president last month related to his $250 million civil fraud case in Manhattan. Chutkan's initial gag order barred Trump from making any public statements that targeted Smith, other federal prosecutors, court staff, and potential case witnesses. Chutkan agreed with Smith's team that Trump had a "history of using inflammatory language to target" others involved in the case - and had already threatened one witness he said had falsely testified against him. The former president has pleaded not guilty to all charges in the case and faces up to 55 years in prison upon conviction. The trial is scheduled to begin March 4, 2024, the day before Super Tuesday in the GOP presidential primary.

In a separate ruling, a federal appeals court in Washington, DC, reinstated key aspects of a gag order limiting what former President Donald Trump can say in the case involving his alleged attempts to thwart the transfer of power after the 2020 presidential election. The unanimous three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the order from U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to the extent that it prohibits the former president from making public statements about potential witnesses in the case "concerning their potential participation in the investigation or in this criminal proceeding." He is also barred from commenting about lawyers in the case other than the special counsel, members of court staff and lawyers' staff, and their family members.

Trump can, however, make statements criticizing the Biden administration, the Justice Department, and special counsel Jack Smith. He can also continue claiming that the prosecution is politically motivated and that he is innocent of the four charges against him. "We do not allow such an order lightly," U.S. Circuit Court Judge Patricia Millet wrote in an opinion for the court. "Mr. Trump is a former president and current candidate for the presidency, and there is a strong public interest in what he has to say. But Mr. Trump is also an indicted criminal defendant, and he must stand trial in a courtroom under the same procedures that govern all other criminal defendants. That is what the rule of law means."

Trump can appeal the decision to the full D.C. Circuit or seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court. The panel's ruling dissolves an administrative stay issued by the appeals court in early November, reinstating some of the limits on Trump's public comments. The special counsel's office declined to comment. Steve Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump, said the D.C. In its ruling, the D.C. Circuit said that the First Amendment "unquestionably affords political speech robust protection." But the judges added that the existence of a political campaign or political speech "does not alter the court's historical commitment or obligation to ensure the fair administration of justice in criminal cases."

"A trial participant's engagement in political speech cannot degrade or diminish that essential judicial function," Millett wrote. Trump acknowledges as much by accepting his pretrial release condition that he cannot speak to witnesses in the case about political matters or otherwise. He cannot evade that legitimate limitation by dressing up messages to witnesses in political-speech garb."

The court's ruling on the gag order comes as Trump is currently in the midst of his third campaign for the presidency and is leading the field of Republicans vying for the party's presidential nomination. The three judges - Millett, and Judges Cornelia Pillard and Bradley Garcia - said they agree with the district court that some aspects of Trump's public comments "pose a significant and imminent threat" to the integrity of the ongoing criminal prosecution, "warranting a speech-constraining protective order." But the appeals court said the order put in place by Chutkan "sweeps in more protected speech than is necessary."

The judges wrote that the decision rested on a balance between ensuring Trump's right to free speech and the right to a fair trial, a line that weighed on the panel during its oral proceedings last month. The appeals court ultimately ruled that while political speech is the.