A Republican lawmaker introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives to block judges from issuing gag orders after several judges imposed such orders on former President Donald Trump.
“No judge of the United States or of any State may issue a gag order to the defendant in any criminal or civil proceedings except to prevent the disclosure of confidential information provided in discovery, to protect the privacy of minors, or as part of a plea agreement,” the proposed bill’s text said.
The proposed measure would allow people who received a gag order to “commence a civil action seeking injunctive relief” and that nothing in the proposed measure could be “construed as limiting a judge’s authority to issue orders to officers of the court.”
The proposed measure’s introduction in the House comes as the New York appeals court rejected another Trump attempt to reverse Judge Merchan’s gag order. His campaign confirmed Wednesday that they filed a notice of appeal to New York’s highest court.
A panel of five judges wrote they found that Judge Merchan “properly weighed petitioner’s First Amendment Rights against the court’s historical commitment to ensuring the fair administration of justice in criminal cases, and the right of persons related or tangentially related to the criminal proceedings from being free from threats, intimidation, harassment, and harm.”
The former president’s attorneys argued that their client’s constitutional rights were being violated by Judge Merchan, namely as he campaigns for the 2024 election as the leading Republican presidential candidate.
Issued in March and expanded weeks later, the gag order prevents President Trump from speaking about potential witnesses, current witnesses, court staff, members of Judge Merchan’s family, and jury members. He is allowed to speak about the judge and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the case against him.