A federal judge in Washington said Monday she would restrict former President Donald Trump’s statements in the federal case alleging he attempted to overturn his loss in the 2020 election, hampering his effort to meld his criminal defense with his reelection bid.
The order from Judge Tanya S. Chutkan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia comes after months of Trump’s attacks on Special Counsel John L. “Jack” Smith and potential witnesses on charges including conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
But Trump already has sought to cast the order as an attempt to “silence” him, a criticism Chutkan addressed in a statement from the bench Monday.
