Closing summary
Federal judge Tanya Chutkan partially granted prosecutors’ request for a gag order on Donald Trump in his trial over charges related to the trying to overturn the 2020 election. The former president will be banned from attacking special counsel Jack Smith and his team, as well as witnesses in the case and court staff, but Chutkan declined to stop him from alleging the case is politically motivated, or criticizing the government generally. Nonetheless, Trump’s presidential campaign condemned the decision as “another partisan knife stuck in the heart of our Democracy”.
Here’s what else happened today:
Jim Jordan is consolidating Republican votes ahead of tomorrow’s election that could see him take over as speaker of the House from the ousted Kevin McCarthy.
Joe Biden postponed a trip to Colorado to stay at the White House and meet with his national security team ahead of Israel’s expected invasion of Gaza.
Chutkan turned down a request from Smith’s team to limit how Trump’s attorneys could question potential jurors.
The election subversion case is one of several Trump is involved in, both at the state and federal level. Here’s a recap of his many legal troubles.
Biden and Kamala Harris condemned the murder of a six-year-old Palestinian Muslim boy in Illinois, and warned against Islamophobia.
Biden and Harris condemn murder of six-year-old Palestinian in Illinois
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have condemned the killing of six-year-old Palestinian Muslim Wadea Al-Fayoume in Illinois, who police say was targeted over the Israel-Hamas war.
“Doug and I grieve with the family of Wadea Al-Fayoume, a six-year-old Palestinian-American Muslim child who was stabbed to death on Saturday. We also pray for the recovery of Wadea’s mother, Hanaan Shahin, who was stabbed 12 times in the same attack,” Harris said in a statement released this afternoon. “The Department of Justice has announced a hate crimes investigation.”
Yesterday evening, the president said:
Jill and I were shocked and sickened to learn of the brutal murder of a six-year-old child and the attempted murder of the child’s mother in their home yesterday in Illinois.
The child’s Palestinian Muslim family came to America seeking what we all seek – a refuge to live, learn and pray in peace.
This horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are.
As Americans, we must come together and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred. I have said repeatedly that I will not be silent in the face of hate. We must be unequivocal. There is no place in America for hate against anyone.
Here’s the Guardian’s Gloria Oladipo with more on Wadea’s murder:
Updated
Quinn Mitchell, a 15-year-old resident of early voting state New Hampshire who could give many reporters a run for their money in terms of political knowledge, has had yet another run-in with Republican officials who apparently do not want him around, the Guardian’s Adam Gabbatt reports:
A 15-year-old aspiring journalist who had a viral encounter with the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, earlier this year was escorted out of a Republican political event by armed police after he was accused of being a Democratic operative.
Quinn Mitchell – a politics enthusiast who has attended more than 80 presidential campaign events – said he was given a credential to the First in the Nation Leadership Summit, an event organized by the New Hampshire Republican party.
After arriving on Friday, Mitchell watched a speech by Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor who is running for president. Mitchell – who is from New Hampshire – then prepared to watch Perry Johnson, a long-shot Republican candidate.
But he was prevented from doing so.
“This woman comes up to me, I don’t know who she is, but she says to me: ‘I know who you are, you’re a tracker,’” Mitchell said on his podcast.
A tracker is a political operative who records rival candidates. Mitchell, who is not a tracker, was then escorted into a room at the Sheraton Nashua hotel, where the event was being held. The woman, who Mitchell said was a Republican official, was joined by a man, and the pair accused Mitchell of having misrepresented himself to gain access.
Updated
From the Guardian’s Hugo Lowell, here’s a full rundown of what happened earlier today, when the federal judge handling his trial on charges of trying to overturn the 2020 election imposed a partial gag order on Donald Trump:
Donald Trump has been issued a limited gag order by the federal judge overseeing the criminal case over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, prohibiting him from making public statements attacking prosecutors, court staff and potential trial witnesses.
The former president was not prohibited from generally disparaging the Biden administration, the US justice department and the trial venue of Washington DC, and will continue to be allowed to allege that the case was politically motivated.
Those were the contours of a tailored protective order handed down on Monday by Tanya Chutkan, the US district judge who said she would enter a written ruling at a later date but warned Trump’s lawyers that any violation of the order could lead to immediate punitive sanctions.
The ruling was the culmination of a two-hour hearing in federal district court after prosecutors in the office of the special counsel Jack Smith had asked the judge to impose restrictions on Trump’s attacks that they felt could intimidate witnesses – and Chutkan agreed.
“There is a real risk that witnesses may be intimidated,” Chutkan said as she explained her decision from the bench, adding that just because Trump was a 2024 presidential candidate and the GOP nomination frontrunner did not give him free rein to “launch a pre-trial smear campaign”.
Biden postpones Colorado trip, discusses Israel with national security team, joins Truth Social
Joe Biden was scheduled today to travel to Colorado to promote clean energy policies, but this morning made the unusual decision to postpone the event, apparently to address the crisis in the Middle East.
The White House has announced that the president spent this afternoon meeting with his national security team about Israel’s looming invasion of the Gaza Strip:
This morning, @POTUS and @VP were briefed by their national security team on the latest updates in the wake of Hamas’s abhorrent attack in Israel and the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/pthWb1R7kB
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 16, 2023
Meanwhile, his re-election campaign has made its own foray into hostile territory, by setting up an account on Donald Trump’s Truth Social. That’s the platform the former president turned to after being banned from X, formerly known as Twitter, following the January 6 insurrection, and has continued to use even after Elon Musk let him back on last year:
We just joined Truth Social, mostly because we thought it would be very funny.
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) October 16, 2023
Follow us there for truths and retruths or whatever they call them: https://t.co/tKNFKcOsUE pic.twitter.com/Jofjex8kp9
We have a live blog following the latest on the war between Israel and Hamas:
Trump campaign calls partial gag order 'another partisan knife stuck in the heart of our Democracy'
A spokesperson for the Trump campaign has denounced a judge’s recent partial gag order against Donald Trump in the 2020 election case.
In a statement shared with the Hill, the spokesperson called the order “an absolute abomination and another partisan knife stuck in the heart of our Democracy.”
“President Trump will continue to fight for our Constitution, the American people’s right to support him, and to keep our country free of the chains of weaponized and targeted law enforcement,” read the statement, shared by Trump’s campaign.
Judge Tanya Chutkan’s ruling prohibits Trump from attacking special counsel Jack Smith and his staff. The former president is also banned from attacking witnesses in the case as well as court staff.
Read the full article here.
Updated
It’s unclear if Jordan will secure the 217 votes necessary for House Speaker. But his team has been making significant headway, CNN reports.
As of Monday, less than 10 Republican representatives don’t support Jordan’s bid for House speakership--compare to 20 members on Sunday.
From CNN’s Manu Raju:
Jordan team making significant progress to 217. Yesterday, about 20 members were vowing to oppose him. Now, per Chip Roy and others, it’s fewer than 10.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 16, 2023
The question is whether his critics will withstand the pressure and derail his bid — or fall in line
Jordan’s supporters are attempting to garner support as the House speaker vote approaches.
Tennessee representative Andy Ogles posted a public letter on Monday, imploring Americans to contact their representatives to support Jordan.
In a post to X, formerly known as Twitter, Ogles said: “My Fellow Americans, .. Our Nation is in crisis, we need a leader, we need a fighter like [Jim Jordan]”.
My Fellow Americans,
— Congressman Andy Ogles (@AndyOgles) October 16, 2023
.. Our Nation is in crisis, we need a leader, we need a fighter like @Jim_Jordan 🇺🇸
We need to hear from you, call your Congressman
1-202-224-3121 pic.twitter.com/wM52vPBxrc
Jordan to force floor vote on Tuesday
Jim Jordan has told CNN that he will force a floor vote tomorrow at noon for House speaker.
The Ohio representative previously walked back a stance that he would only call a vote if he reached the necessary 217 votes.
Jordan told CNN that his stance changed due to fighting between Israel and Hamas.
“You can’t open the House, and do the work of the American people, and help our dearest and closest friend Israel if you don’t have a Speaker,” said Jordan.
On if he can get 217 votes, Jordan said: “I don’t know if there’s any way to ever get that in the room. … But I think the only way to do this is … you have the vote tomorrow.”
News — Jim Jordan says floor vote at NOON tomorrow, even if short 217 votes. Had previously said he would go to floor only after he’s at 217
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 16, 2023
“I don't know if there's any way to ever get that in the room. … But I think the only way to do this is … to vote tomorrow,” he told me pic.twitter.com/UHR476gfCN
Updated
The day so far
Federal judge Tanya Chutkan partially granted prosecutors’ request for a gag order on Donald Trump in his trial over charges related to the trying to overturn the 2020 election. The former president will be banned from attacking special counsel Jack Smith and his staff, as well as witnesses in the case and court staff, but Chutkan declined to stop him from alleging the case is politically motivated, or criticizing the government generally.
Here’s what else is going on today:
Jim Jordan is consolidating Republican votes ahead of tomorrow’s election that could see him take over as speaker of the House from the ousted Kevin McCarthy.
Chutkan turned down a request from Smith’s team to limit how Trump’s attorneys could question potential jurors.
The election subversion case is one of several Trump is involved in, both at the state and federal level. Here’s a recap of his many legal troubles.
Jordan consolidates support ahead of Tuesday House speaker vote
Jim Jordan, the GOP nominee for House speaker, has spent today consolidating support ahead of a vote scheduled for tomorrow to pick a new leader of Congress’s lower chamber.
While it still remains unclear if he has the 217 votes necessary to succeed Kevin McCarthy, the Republican who was earlier this month booted from the speaker’s chair by eight far-right GOP lawmakers and the chamber’s Democrats, Jordan has made important progress today.
He notably won the support of Mike Rogers, an Alabama congressman who had previously refused to vote for him:
.@Jim_Jordan and I have had two cordial, thoughtful, and productive conversations over the past two days. We agreed on the need for Congress to pass a strong NDAA, appropriations to fund our government's vital functions, and other important legislation like the Farm Bill. (1/3)
— Mike Rogers (@RepMikeRogersAL) October 16, 2023
As a result, I have decided to support Jim Jordan for Speaker of the House on the floor. (2/3)
— Mike Rogers (@RepMikeRogersAL) October 16, 2023
Jordan has supported baseless conspiracy theories about Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss and received the former president’s endorsement in the speaker’s race. In a letter he sent to his GOP colleagues today, he has pitched himself as a uniter of a conference that’s deeply divided over many issues, including McCarthy’s removal:
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) October 16, 2023
Judge Tanya Chutkan says with Trump’s public prejudicial statements in the 2020 election case, there is a real risk that witnesses may be intimidated.
Trump cannot “launch a pre-trial smear campaign,” Chutkan says, adding violations of order could lead to sanctions.
Judge imposes partial gag order against Trump in election subversion case
Federal judge Tanya Chutkan has imposed a limited gag order against Donald Trump in the 2020 election subversion case.
Chutkan’s order prevents posting or reposting attacks against the special counsel, his staff, court staff or personnel, and statements against potential witnesses or expert testimony. The judge declined to impose restrictions on criticizing the government in general, including the justice department and Biden administration. She also will allow statements alleging the case is politically motivated.
Updated
Over the past two hours the judge, Tanya Chutkan has heard arguments from both Donald Trump’s attorneys and prosecutors for special counsel Jack Smith over whether she should impose a gag order on the former president.
Prosecutors have asked her to do so, citing inflammatory statements he has made targeting various players in his federal election subversion case, including witnesses, court staff and attorneys. At the hearing, Trump’s lawyer John Lauro has argued such an order would be unnecessary, saying he can stop the ex-president from making outrageous statements, and unsuccessfully trying to get Chutkan to delay the trial until after the 2024 election.
The judge has yet to rule, but as her statement before the hearing went into recess makes clear, she seems to be leaning towards imposing some kind of order limiting what the former president can say.
Updated
Judge signals willingness to impose gag order in Trump election case
Federal judge Tanya Chutkan has signaled she is partial to a request from prosecutors to impose some kind of gag order on Donald Trump in the election subversion case.
“I’m not confident that without some sort of restriction, we’ll be in here all the time,” she said after hearing about two hours of arguments from special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecutors and Trump’s defense attorneys.
The court is now taking a brief recess.
Updated
Judge Tanya Chutkan is now back to the argument, put forward by Donald Trump’s attorney, about how a gag order could affect a debate with his former vice-president turned rival Mike Pence.
Chutkan says she understand how it could be detrimental to their speech, but then asks Trump’s lawyer John Lauro why she could not issue an order stopping him from attacking other witnesses – such as former joint chief of staff chairman Mark Milley. Last month, Trump suggested Milley deserved “DEATH” over a phone call with his Chinese counterpart near the end of his term, where the army general assured him the president would not order military action.
Lauro replies that the first amendment does not restrict speech simply because it could be used to spur someone to violence.
Judge Tanya Chutkan asks Donald Trump’s lawyer John Lauro why the former president needed to attack the spouse of special counsel Jack Smith.
Lauro replies that he gets attacked as well, but that’s permitted under the first amendment, and nothing stops Trump from arguing the case against him is politically biased.
Chutkan then turns to Trump’s attacks against court staff, such as the New York City court clerk who he maligned earlier this month. Lauro concedes that comment was out of bounds for a judicial proceeding.
The judge then wanted to hear from Lauro his argument against her issuing an order blocking Trump from making derogatory public statements about the court or its staff. His attorney says such a step is not necessary, nothing the civil case in New York is different from the federal criminal proceedings in Washington DC. Lauro adds that he will make sure Trump does not make similar statements.
Judge Tanya Chutkan then considers another question: why Donald Trump feels the need to call a prosecutor a “thug” to make the point that the case against him is politically motivated.
His attorney John Lauro asks what else he should do in the face of oppression. “Let’s tone this down,” Chutkan replies.
“If your honor wants to censor my speech”, Lauro retorts.
Judge Tanya Chutkan poses the hypothetical question of how a statement by Donald Trump attacking the election subversion case as political and brought by Joe Biden should be handled.
Trump’s attorney John Lauro asks if such a statement would violate the potential gag order. The prosecution initially argues that yes, it would, before backtracking and saying it would not, because Biden is not a party to the case.
If Judge Tanya Chutkan places a gag order on Donald Trump, the question would then become, what happens if he violates it?
Chutkan asked special counsel prosecutor Molly Gaston what the enforcement mechanism should be if she imposes a gag order, noting the “order [is] pointless if [there is] no mechanism to enforce”. Penalties for violating it could include admonishing Trump, imposing financial penalties, moving his court date or modifying his conditions of release.
Chutkan asked Trump lawyer John Lauro the same question, who replied that such an order would be “actually impossible”. He argued that they were in the midst of a presidential campaign, and questioned how statements Trump made in a hypothetical debate with someone like his former vice-president turned rival Mike Pence would be handled under the order.
Updated
Donald Trump’s lawyer John Lauro argued the former president abided by his conditions of release despite his inflammatory statements about potential witnesses and prosecutors.
Judge Tanya Chutkan replied, “I’m going to take issue with that” and added, “This trial will not yield to the election cycle”.
Lauro, meanwhile, is arguing that Trump is entitled to say he’s being treated unfairly.
Judge Tanya Chutkan kicked off the hearing by turning down prosecutors’ request for restrictions on the surveys Donald Trump’s attorneys plan to send to potential jurors.
The former president’s team has been concerned about the jury pool in Washington DC, which is overwhelmingly Democratic, and wants to use the surveys to inquire about their views on Trump and the January 6 insurrection. Special counsel Jack Smith’s team had asked Chutkan to require Trump’s lawyers to submit the surveys first before sending them out – arguing they could taint the jury pool – but the judge declined to do so.
Unbridled ahead of today’s gag order hearing, Donald Trump was last night lashing out on Truth Social at special counsel Jack Smith and federal judge Tanya Chutkan – exactly the kind of posts prosecutors are trying to restrict.
His post read, in part:
Tomorrow is a big day for Democracy. A Leaking, Crooked and Deranged Prosecutor, Jack Smith, who has a terrible record of failure, is asking a highly partisan Obama appointed Judge, Tanya Chutkan, who should recuse herself based on the horrible things she has said, to silence me, through the use of a powerful GAG ORDER, making it impossible for me to criticize those who are doing the silencing, namely Crooked Joe Biden, and his corrupt and weaponized DOJ & FBI.
Judges opens hearing to consider gag order on Trump in election subversion case
Judge Tanya Chutkan has entered the courtroom in Washington DC to hear arguments from prosecutors and defense attorneys over whether to impose a gag order on Donald Trump in his trial on charges related to trying to overturn the 2020 election.
Follow along as we cover it here live.
As we wait for the start of the hearing where judge Tanya Chutkan will weigh imposing a gag order on Donald Trump in the federal election subversion case, here’s a rundown of the other legal matters the former president faces, both criminal and civil. From the Guardian’s Joan E Greve and Andrew Witherspoon:
After four arrests in as many months, Donald Trump has now been charged with 91 felony counts across criminal cases in New York, Florida, Washington and Georgia. The former president and current frontrunner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary faces the threat of prison time if he is convicted.
As Trump attempts to delay his criminal trials, civil lawsuits endanger the former president’s financial and business prospects. A New York jury has already found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming E Jean Carroll, awarding her $5m in damages. A separate civil inquiry, led by New York attorney general Letitia James, seeks $250 million that the Trump Organization allegedly obtained through fraud.
Here’s where each case against Trump stands:
I’ve spotted Donald Trump’s lawyers at the E Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse in downtown Washington DC.
Todd Blanche, Greg Singer, John Lauro and Emil Bove will represent the former president, who is spending today campaigning in Iowa, a crucial state in the GOP’s presidential nomination process.
Attorney Paul Kamenar, an advisor to his legal team, was also in attendance, as was Stanley Woodward, who is representing Trump valet Walt Nauta in the separate federal case over the classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago resort.
Updated
Far-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has made her way down to the federal courthouse in Washington DC for today’s hearing on a potential gag order for Donald Trump, the Guardian Hugo Lowell reports:
Spotted in the public line for Trump's gag order hearing today: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) October 16, 2023
She, admittedly, may not have much else to do. The House of Representatives remains non-operational as the Republican majority continues to haggle over a speaker. The party’s lawmakers are scheduled to tomorrow nominate a candidate for the post, though it’s unclear if anyone can get the 217 votes necessary to win the gavel.
Greene has been one of Trump’s most ardent defenders in Congress, and kept it up on Twitter ahead of the hearing:
They are attempting to muzzle the most popular political figure in America!
— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) October 16, 2023
President Donald J Trump!
Stripping all Americans’ (both supporters and not) opportunity to hear from the leading candidate for President.
UnConstitutional and unAmerican! pic.twitter.com/4MHAUPGv8O
From the Guardian’s Hugo Lowell, here’s more on what a gag order could mean for Donald Trump as he defends himself from federal charges related to trying to overturn the 2020 election, while once again campaigning for the White House:
A federal judge is expected to consider on Monday whether to impose a limited gag order on Donald Trump in the criminal case over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, potentially restricting what he can say about potential trial witnesses and prosecutors.
The decision for US district judge Tanya Chutkan at the hearing, scheduled for 10am in Washington, comes with unique challenges given the potential for Trump to test the limits of a protective order or even flout it outright – opening the explosive sanctions question of whether to jail him in response.
Since Trump was charged in August with conspiring to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power, prosecutors have complained in court filings that Trump has made dozens of prejudicial statements that could intimidate people from testifying against him at trial and poison the jury pool.
The filings cited, in particular, Trump’s posts attacking his former vice-president, Mike Pence, for testifying during the criminal investigation, and posts suggesting the former chair of the joint chiefs of staff Gen Mark Milley, another potential trial witness, should be executed.
“In times gone by,” Trump wrote in one post of Milley and his move to insulate the US defense department at the end of the Trump administration, “the punishment would have been DEATH! A war between China and the United States could have been the result of this treasonous act. To be continued!”
Federal judge to consider gag order on Trump in January 6 case
Good morning, US politics blog readers. That Donald Trump is a big talker is well known, but his penchant for hurling insults at those who cross him is now a legal issue. Jack Smith, the special counsel who has brought charges against him for trying to overturn the 2020 election, has requested that federal judge Tanya Chutkan impose a gag order on Trump to prevent him from attacking people involved in the case, including the witnesses he likes to malign in public appearances and Truth Socials posts. A hearing on that motion will begin at 10am eastern time today in Washington DC, and if Chutkan agrees, it would mark the first instance that Trump has faced legal consequences for his notoriously big mouth.
But it would also open up a host of other questions for the former president, who is right now the frontrunner in the GOP primary. What would happen if Trump violates the gag order? Would Chutkan order him to jail, as she theoretically could? How would it impact his ability to campaign? Chutkan could rule today, or later on, and we’ll cover the hearing as it happens on this blog.
Here’s what else is going on today:
Joe Biden postponed a scheduled trip to Colorado “to participate in national security meetings,” the White House just announced, as Israel’s expected invasion of Gaza looms.
House Republicans continue squabbling over who should replace Kevin McCarthy as speaker, with no resolution in sight ahead of a vote scheduled for Tuesday.
Trump is, meanwhile, campaigning in Iowa, the first state to vote in the GOP’s nominating process.
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