Federal judge temporarily lifts gag order in Trump election case

Oct. 20 (UPI) -- A federal judge on Friday temporarily lifted a partial gag order she placed on former President Donald Trump in his election interference case.

U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the case in Washington, D.C., said she was staying the order to give the two parties time to deal with Trump's appeal of the gag order.

Chutkan issued the gag order Monday, preventing Trump from issuing statements targeting special counsel Jack Smith and his team, and staff working with the judge and other personnel in the court. The order also banned Trump from making statements about possible witnesses in the case.

Trump's attorneys appealed the gag order Wednesday, saying it unfairly blocks him from criticizing people involved in a political campaign against him. They said its part of a larger scheme to hurt him politically and prevent his return to the presidency.

"We're being railroaded. And I have other trials where we're being railroaded," Trump told reporters Tuesday before attending a separate civil fraud trial in New York. "You saw yesterday where they took away my right to speak. I won't be able to speak like I'm speaking to you."

Chutkan gave the U.S. Justice Department a Wednesday deadline to respond to Trump's request for a longer stay of the gag order. She also gave Trump until Oct. 28 to reply to the government's response.

Trump appealed the gag order to the D.C. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Friday, CNN reported.