Judge rejects Jack Smith's request to have Donald Trump banned from discussing January 6th case publicly

Judge Tanya Chutkin has rejected a request from Special Counsel Jack Smith to have former President Donald Trump gagged on matters related to his trial on charges stemming from the January 6th protest.

Chutkin is allowing Trump to publicly comment on the case but, he will not be allowed to discuss witnesses or to reveal witness testimony, including videos and transcripts.

Smith's request to gag Trump was tantamount to election interference because of the likelihood that Trump will be the Republican nominee in next year's presidential election.

The charges against him are also political and silencing him would only add fuel to the fire that the entire case against Trump is a hit job designed to protect President Joe Biden from having to face off with the former president once again.

While Chutkin isn't allowing Trump to speak about witnesses, that is a fairly standard restriction designed to ensure that powerful defendants can't intimidate witnesses.

This is a big victory for Trump and allows him to continue speaking the truth about what is happening in this case.