Posted 30 October, 2023

Former President Donald Trump unleashed on Judge Tanya Chutkan early Monday morning after she reimposed a gag order on him Sunday night.

Judge Chutkan officially put the gag order back in place at 7 p,m. Sunday night, lifting the temporary hold she put on it. A few hours later, in a post to his Truth Social platform at approximately 12:30 a.m., Trump called attacked the judge overseeing his case to his six million followers, calling the gag order "unthinkable."

"I have just learned that the very Biased, Trump Hating Judge in D.C., who should have RECUSED herself due to her blatant and open loathing of your favorite President, ME, has reimposed a GAG ORDER which will put me at a disadvantage against my prosecutorial and political opponents," Trump wrote. "

It illegally and unconstitutionally takes away my First Amendment Right of Free Speech, in the middle of my campaign for President, where I am leading against BOTH Parties in the Polls. Few can believe this is happening, but I will appeal. How can they tell the leading candidate that he, and only he, is seriously restricted from campaigning in a free and open manner? It will not stand!"

POLL: Should Trump be allowed to hold office again?

Judge Chutkan lifted the temporarily hold she had on the gag order while hearing arguments in favor of and against it from both special counsel Jack Smith and Trump's lawyers. While Smith argued the gag order was necessary in order to protect the jury trial process in Washington, DC, Trump's lawyers argued that the gag order violated the former president's free speech rights.

The American Civil Liberties Union even sided with Trump in his petition to stay the order in an amicus brief filed last week.According to Politico legal correspondent Kyle Cheney, Judge Chutkan stated the order was necessary by citing Trump's own statements against former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows — who testified before Jack Smith's grand jury earlier this year — as justification.

Chutkan noted that Trump suggesting Meadows was a "weakling" and a "coward" on Truth Social would have "almost certainly" violated the order had it been in place at the time. "The statement singles out a foreseeable witness for purposes of characterizing his potentially unfavorable testimony as a 'lie,'" Chutkan wrote.

In a subsequent post to Truth Social, Trump ominously warned President Biden that he was "setting a BAD precedent." "The same can happen to you," the former president posted.

READ MORE: Federal judge's Trump gag order was a victory for democracy and 'the rule of law': analysis