WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 Washington's federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected Donald Trump's request to reconsider a gag order restricting the former president鈥檚 speech in the case charging him with plotting to overturn the 2020 election.
Lawyers for the had asked the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to examine the gag order after a three-judge panel upheld but narrowed the restrictions on his speech. Trump can now appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
An attorney for Trump didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
The in October in response to concerns from special counsel Jack Smith鈥檚 team that Trump鈥檚 pattern of incendiary comments could taint the proceedings, intimidate witnesses and influence jurors.
The three judge panel modified it in important ways, freeing Trump to publicly criticize Smith. The special counsel has been a frequent target of Trump鈥檚 ire since being appointed by the Justice Department in November 2022 to lead investigations into the former president.
The panel said that though Trump could make general comments about known or foreseeable witnesses, he could not directly attack them over their involvement in the case or about the content of their expected testimony.
Trump鈥檚 lawyers argued the panel鈥檚 decision contradicted Supreme Court precedent and rulings from other appeals courts. They said a fresh evaluation was needed 鈥渂oth to secure uniformity of this Court鈥檚 decisions and because of the question鈥檚 exceptional importance.鈥
A different three-judge panel of the appeals court in Washington is separately weighing , which accuses Trump of plotting with his Republican allies to subvert the will of voters in a desperate bid to stay in power. Judge Chutkan, , has put the case on hold while he pursues his appeal.
