CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is co-leading an amicus brief to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit opposing a federal court’s gag order on former President Donald Trump in his federal election subversion case.
The coalition of 18 Republican state Attorneys General argues the order issued by Judge Tanya Chutkan “overstepped its role in issuing an overly broad order denying Defendant, President Donald J. Trump, from making public statements about ‘individuals involved in the judicial process.’"
The coalition says the gag order "amounts to the violation of Trump’s First Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution," also calling Chutkans' order "both overly broad and overly vague."
“This is not just about Trump saying what he wants to say,” Morrisey said in a press release. “It’s about protecting our constitutional right to free speech.
"And when political foes join in a common defense, you know there’s something there: the ACLU, an organization on the opposite side of the GOP’s political spectrum, has sided with Trump in a brief arguing (among other things) ‘the gag order currently in place is insufficiently justified since it has not shown a serious threat that the speech it prohibits will threaten the administration of justice.”
Because Trump is running for re-election, the coalition says the gag order denies the electorate the chance to hear from their candidates.
“The judge’s approach for the gag order ignores the fact that the government’s case is political to the core," Morrisey said. "It’s obvious the other side is stopping at nothing to silence Biden’s political opponent.
“As administrators of free and fair elections, we have an interest in ensuring no illegal prior restraint is entered against any major political candidate,” according to the coalition’s brief. “Indeed, our citizens have an interest in hearing from major political candidates in that election. The order threatens the States’ interests by infringing on President Trump’s free speech rights.”
Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and Utah joined the Iowa- and West Virginia-led brief.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit case number 23-3190