In a new filing before federal Judge Tanya Chutkan, the federal prosecutors handling Donald Trump’s criminal case on allegations of attempted election interference say the gag order he remains under following a recent ruling by an appeals court remains enforceable, even as Trump separately pursues appeals on questions of presidential immunity. Trump is seeking a halt to, remarkably, all proceedings before the originating court while that appeal on specific arguments he’s brought moves forward.
The federal team contended in turn that any associated halt to proceedings set up by the law was much more limited. The specific arguments Trump is pushing in that immunity appeal are that he holds wide-ranging immunity from legal consequence for actions taken within the so-called outer perimeter of his presidential responsibilities so long as an impeachment and accompanying Senate conviction didn’t follow the disputed conduct. It’s an extensively limiting framework for the possibilities of holding former presidents legally accountable that prosecutors have said finds simply no meaningful precedent in law.
As for the halt Trump’s seeking at the lower level, prosecutors cited the gag order as in a range of possibly pressing matters that they said remained able to proceed.
“The Court should not assume at this juncture that no issue can arise that is not involved in the appeal,” the government said. “For example, the Circuit recently returned the mandate on the Court’s Rule 57.7 order regarding extrajudicial statements, and the Court has jurisdiction to administer that order. Likewise, nothing about the defendant’s appeal prevents the Court from continuing to enforce—including, if necessary, by ordering briefing or holding hearings—the protective orders governing discovery (ECF Nos. 28 and 37) and the order imposing conditions of release on the defendant (ECF No. 13).”
Follow-up arguments from Trump on the question of a halt at the level of the district court, where Chutkan presides, were due Tuesday, seemingly setting up a swift decision — perhaps within days — from the judge. The appeals court that upheld the gag order did partially limit it compared to its earlier iteration from Chutkan but left protections blocking Trump from attacking witnesses in connection to their participation in the case.
