Expert: Trump 'literally making the case a gag order is necessary' with late night Mark Meadows rant
After former President Donald Trump recently unleashed a barrage of attacks on both key witnesses, prosecutors and a judge on his Truth Social platform, one legal expert is predicting Judge Tanya Chutkan's paused gag order will be reinstated.
In a screed Trump posted to Truth Social on Tuesday night, the former president attacked Mark Meadows — his former chief of staff — following news that Meadows was granted immunity by Special Counsel Jack Smith. Meadows confirmed to ABC News that he not only spoke to Smith's team "at least three times" in 2023 in regard to the January 6 case, but that he also testified before a federal grand jury.
"I don’t think Mark Meadows would lie about the Rigged and Stollen[sic] 2020 Presidential Election merely for getting IMMUNITY against Prosecution (PERSECUTION!) by Deranged Prosecutor, Jack Smith," Trump posted late Tuesday night. "BUT, when you really think about it, after being hounded like a dog for three years, told you’ll be going to jail for the rest of your life, your money and your family will be forever gone, and we’re not at all interested in exposing those that did the RIGGING — If you say BAD THINGS about that terrible 'MONSTER,' DONALD J. TRUMP, we won’t put you in prison, you can keep your family and your wealth, and, perhaps, if you can make up some really horrible 'STUFF' a out him, we may very well erect a statue of you in the middle of our decaying and now very violent Capital, Washington, D.C."
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In a tweet to his X account, Politico senior legal affairs correspondent Kyle Cheney said Trump's post "is like a checklist of things barred by the (now-suspended) gag order." Cheney said the former president's direct attack on Jack Smith, reference to witnesses as "weaklings" and "cowards" and commenting on the testimony of a known witness could be considered evidence. And former assistant US attorney Mitchell Epner opined on Bluesky that Trump's recent social media activity will likely be used against him in court proceedings regarding the paused gag order.
"If I wanted to create evidence that would buttress Judge Chutkan's gag order on appeal (of which the DC Circuit can take judicial notice), today's social media by Trump would have been it," Epner posted. "He literally is making the case that a gag order is necessary to protect the jury trial process in DC."
On Friday, CNN reported Chutkan issued an administrative stay on the gag order to give both prosecutors and the defense more time to brief her on Trump's request to put a longer pause on the gag order. Jack Smith's legal team will be making its case before Chutkan on Wednesday on why the gag order should be reinstated.
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