A stern caution has been delivered to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan by ex-federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani. Rahmani, now heading the West Coast Trial Lawyers law firm, urges Chutkan to crack down on former President Donald Trump for repeatedly breaking a gag order.
According to Conservative Brief on December 11, 2023, Rahmani emphasized the necessity for Chutkan to take significant steps, proposing potential penalties like imprisonment or contempt charges for Trump’s repeated violations.
Speaking to Newsweek, Rahmani highlighted that a recent federal appeals court decision upheld the gag order but narrowed its scope. While allowing Trump to criticize Special Counsel Jack Smith, the court prohibited any comments targeting Smith’s family, court officials, and staff due to alleged threats from Trump’s supporters.
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Rahmani stressed Chutkan’s commitment to enforcing the gag order, stating that previous responses, including minor, meaningless fines, were unsatisfactory. He emphasized that revoking Trump’s bond would mean spending the time between the revocation and his March trial behind bars.
Despite facing four counts related to attempts to overturn the 2020 election, leading to the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, Trump, pleading not guilty, remains a frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination.
Rahmani, drawing on his experience, acknowledged the First Amendment challenges but argued that Trump had pushed the limits of free expression. He pointed out that gag orders had been routinely upheld by appellate courts.
Expressing surprise at the exclusion of Special Counsel Jack Smith in the appeals court’s decision, Rahmani speculated about the court’s reasoning. He suggested that the court might have assumed that Smith, being a party to the case, understood the implications when charging Trump.
In response to the appellate ruling, the Trump campaign claimed the court had lifted a huge part of Judge Chutkan’s extraordinarily overbroad gag order.
The three-judge panel, in its ruling, recognized the need to balance Trump’s First Amendment rights with the administration of justice. The decision narrowed Chutkan’s gag order, allowing Trump to criticize Smith and case witnesses within certain boundaries.
As the legal battle over the gag order unfolds, Rahmani urges Judge Chutkan to take decisive action against Trump’s violations. The delicate balance between First Amendment rights and the administration of justice remains a central theme in this ongoing legal saga.
