Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Justice reinstated a gag order in the highly controversial case of Worldwide Autoparts, LLC v. Trump and others. The gag order had been lifted in December, a month prior, however as a result of the January 6th assault on the Capitol, the DOJ has reinstated it in a much more narrowed form.
The gag order now applies only to proceedings surrounding the representation of the federal government in the U.S. District Court of Eastern Michigan, as well as the public disclosure of evidence and information related to this case. The order was requested by prosecutors to protect the interests of law enforcement in their investigation of the events of January 6th.
So far, the gag order in this case has been limited to the case proceedings, however, if attorneys or entities involved in the case choose to make public statements to the press, the Department of Justice will continue to be prohibited from doing so.
It is still unclear if this gag order will extend to potential trials and proceedings concerning suspects in the insurrection. It also remains to be seen if this order will only apply to suspects of the January 6th riot, or to all suspects accused of rioting or any other violence arising from the insurrection.
Despite the particulars of the gag order in this case, it has clearly received bipartisan criticism and raises serious questions about the potential for similar orders being used to limit freedom of speech and expression in other areas of criminal proceedings. In other words, the implications of this peculiar gag order could be far-reaching and could lead to a dangerous decrease in fundamental liberties in the United States.
