Trump’s unhinged 'tirades' are an 'imminent threat to his rhetorical targets': legal expert

In response to a request from Jack Smith, Judge Tanya Chutkan has imposed a partial gag order on former President Donald Trump in the special counsel's federal election interference case — "partial" being the operative word. Chutkan was very specific in her ruling, making it clear that although she won't tolerate efforts to intimidate witnesses or jurors, she isn't out to attack Trump's 1st Amendment rights.

For example, the Barack Obama-appointed judge stressed that if Trump wants to criticize President Joe Biden's policies on the campaign trail, he's perfectly free to do that.

In an essay/op-ed published by the New York Times on October 19, legal expert Jeffrey Toobin — author of the 2023 book "Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism" — warns that Trump's unhinged "tirades" could have deadly consequences for "the targets of his rage."

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"Over the past two weeks," Toobin observes, "the judges in Mr. Trump's civil fraud case in New York and his criminal prosecution in Washington have issued limited gag orders forbidding him from trying to intimidate witnesses and other participants in the trials. Mr. Trump is appealing at least one of the orders, but even if he abides by them, which is by no means certain, the directives do not prohibit the vast range of threats and attacks Mr. Trump has made and shows every sign of continuing to make."

Toobin adds, "The former president's current language represents an imminent threat to his rhetorical targets and those around them."

The attorney stresses that Trump has the power to inflame his devotees without overtly calling for violence.

"Mr. Trump's adversaries often look to the courts for relief, but there's no remedy there for his tirades," Toobin warns. "The First Amendment protects all but the most explicit incitements to violence, so Mr. Trump has little reason to fear that prosecutors will bring charges against him for those remarks…. Angry people, especially those predisposed toward violence, can be set off by encouragement that falls well short of the legal standard for criminal incitement.

READ MORE: How Jack Smith ordered Trump to 'put up or shut up': legal expert

Jeffrey Toobin's full essay/op-ed for The New York Times is available at this link (subscription required).