Hi, everyone. Happy Monday. It's 4 o'clock in New York. The ex-president today getting

a lesson. The rest of us learned is children that words have consequences. Judge Tanya

Chukkin has reinstated her gag order on Donald Trump, meaning that the ex-president is once

again barred from making remarks targeting prosecutors, witnesses, or court staff. New York

Times also notes this, quote, in making her decision that Judge also denied a request

by Trump's lawyers to freeze the gag order for what could have been a considerably longer

period, saying it can remain in effect as a federal appeals court in Washington reviews

it. Judge Chukkin's move is the latest chapter of what has become a protracted legal battle

between special counsel Jack Smith and Donald Trump with incredibly high stakes. At its

heart is this question. Well, a defendant with one of, if not the biggest megaphone in

the world, be subject to any of the same rules as any of the rest of us, if we were criminal

defendants in the United States. To that question, Judge Chukkin says yes. In her ruling,

she writes this, quote, the first amendment rights of participants in criminal proceedings

must yield when necessary to the orderly administration of justice. The judge also rejecting

the notion that her gag order was too vague to be enforceable, pointing out that Donald

Trump himself clearly understood what he was and was not allowed to say. She points to

a statement Trump made on the 20th that Chukkin says, quote, asserts that defendant is innocent,

that his prosecution is politically motivated and that the Biden administration is corrupt.

It does not violate the order's prohibition of targeting certain individuals. In fact,

the order expressly permits such assertions. Four days later, after a stay was placed

on the gag order, Trump posted a statement about his former chief of staff and key witness,

Mark Meadows, that according to Judge Chukkin, would quote, almost certainly violate the order

...