Former President Donald Trump has an unlikely defender in his fight against a gag order in U.S. District Court in D.C. — the American Civil Liberties Union.
On Wednesday, the ACLU filed a friend of the court brief on Trump’s behalf, in which they called the gag order “Unconstitutional.” In the brief (which can be read here via Politico), the ACLU defended Trump’s right to speak on First Amendment grounds.
“The obvious and unprecedented public interest in this prosecution, as well as the widespread political speech that it has generated and will continue to generate, only underscores the need to apply the most stringent First Amendment standard to a restraint on Defendant’s speech rights,” the ACLU wrote in the brief.
Judge Tanya Chutkan imposed the gag order on Oct. 16, although she has temporarily lifted it while it is being appealed. The order forbids Trump from targeting Special Counsel Jack Smith, court staff, or any witnesses.
But the ACLU argues that the word “target” is “Unconstitutionally vague.”
“The First Amendment rights of the accused require any court order restraining their speech to be both clearly defined and
narrowly framed,” the ACLU wrote. “The order’s prohibition on speech that “targets” certain named and unnamed individuals is neither. Reading the order, Defendant cannot possibly know what he is permitted to say, and what he is not.”
