“Why Are They Treating His Case as if It’s a Campaign?”: Former Prosecutor Insists Appeals Court Will “Not Let Donald Trump Get Away With His Code of Talking”

Michelle HollandNov 26, 2023

Minute Read

Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner has asserted that the odds of Donald Trump winning his appeal of the gag order in the criminal 2020 election subversion case are slim. However, the gag order may be rethought in order to allow some commentary from Trump on the trial. A gag order was imposed on Trump after he posted threatening remarks about people involved in the trial on Truth Social.

The Election Case

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Trump is set to go to trial next March after being federally indicted for his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, including his incitement of the January 6 Capitol riots. It is one of four criminal cases and six overall cases that Trump is currently wrapped up in.

The Gag Order

A gag order was imposed on Trump after he made inflammatory comments about officials involved in the case, such as Judge Tanya Chutkan and Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith, who leads Trump’s prosecution. In one post, Trump vowed that he would be reelected and send Smith to a mental institution by the end of his second term.

Freedom of Speech

A heated debate took place in the appeals court over honoring Trump’s right to free speech while also hampering his potential endangerment of courtroom officials through his incendiary remarks and claims. The conversation stretched beyond the 40 minutes Kirschner proposed it would last.

Skeptical Judges

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After two hours and 20 minutes, Trump’s attorneys had still failed to convince the judges that Trump should be let loose on Truth Social without restrictions. Judge Patricia Millett observed, “There is a clear pattern of Donald Trump issuing statements and witness threats following.”

Accepting the Consequences

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Kirschner explained that she then “pointed to what she said is the ‘accepted principle of law’ that ‘people intend the national and probable consequences of their actions.’” Though freedom of speech is a human right protected by the Constitution, it is not free from conditions.

Limiting Trump’s Commentary

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Kirschner maintained that “it was pretty clear they were not going to let Donald Trump get away with his code of talking,” adding that he believed they would likely “find there was some balance to be struck in favor of restraining, perhaps very narrowly, some of what Donald Trump is permitted to say and post about, witnesses and perhaps about court staff.”

An Unclear Conclusion

After recounting how Trump’s attorneys questioned the prosecution team about why discussing Jack Smith would be off-limits, Kirschner claimed that things got “dicy” and concluded that he “walked out of there not knowing or being confident of precisely what these three court judges may end up ruling.”

Holding Trump Accountable

One person online confessed that they were no longer invested in the outcome of the gag order appeal. “At this point, I don’t care anymore. If a judge issues a gag order on me it doesn’t get debated for months,” they wrote. “No one is going to hold him accountable. Just admit it and move on and get these trials started.”

Trump’s Trial Strategy

One commenter felt that this was simply another step in Trump’s plan to draw out his cases as much as possible. They said: “They’re all falling into the trap of delay. Delay is his strategy. He wants to delay everything at every development. And now his trials are getting delayed.”

Requests for Postponement

They continued, “Trump doesn’t participate in the judicial system. He is dictating the rules and if you think he isn’t, you’re not paying attention. He has slowed everything down.” Trump has also attempted to get several of his trials postponed, and experts have speculated that he is hoping he can delay them until after the election.

The Primary Debates

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Judge Millett expressed concern that Trump’s gag order would hinder his capacity to defend himself from any attacks aimed at him during GOP primary debates, leading one poster to declare: “Why are they treating his case as if it’s a campaign? It’s not his campaign to get out of jail or threaten judges. He can throw darts back at his own people at the debates, but the judges shouldn’t even be on his mind if he’s at a debate.”

Different Situations

Several people criticized Millett for making the connection between the debates and the trials, with one contributor suggesting: “He can also defend himself against what the other GOPers are saying without making vague threats against the court.”

Special Treatment

Another person felt that Trump’s behavior meant he should lose such privileges altogether. “If you don’t want criminal indictments to be used as ammo during a political campaign, how about you just avoid criminal indictments like literally everyone else? I’m sick of Trump getting special treatment that normalizes his criminality,” they complained.

Making Threats

Many users were baffled at Trump’s ability to repeatedly make threats and get away with it and questioned why these incidents weren’t criminal offenses in and of themselves. “How many threats can he make with impunity? Why is this being allowed?” one critic wondered.

Indication of Guilt

Another noted, “Innocent people don’t threaten judges,” whereas someone else concurred, “This is not how an innocent man talks.”

A Deeper Problem

Trump has remained popular with GOP voters and many Republican Party members despite his attitudes toward the legal professionals involved in his cases. One person speculated that “Trump is symptomatic of a deeper rot, the millions of Americans that are fixing to vote for him. They are the problem, they will bring fascism to the USA.”

Defending the Public

Someone else countered, “They are more of the symptom. Many of those voters wouldn’t have gone so far right if it wasn’t for decades of being fed lies and propaganda by media,” before concluding, “the vast majority of R voters at his point, like Trump, are puppets.”