On Monday, an Obama-appointed judge who is presiding over special counsel Jack Smith‘s 2020 election case, granted a gag order against Trump.

According to POLITICO, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered Trump not to attack prosecutors, witnesses, and court staff in regard to their testimony.

“First Amendment protections yield to the administration of justice and to the protection of witnesses,” Chutkan said. “His presidential candidacy does not give him carte blanche to vilify … public servants who are simply doing their job.”

Chutkan also warned she would order sanctions against Trump if he violates her order and that he cannot engage in a “pre-trial smear campaign” against participants in the case. She stopped short on restricting Trump from broadly criticizing D.C., its residents, or the Biden administration.

“Today’s decision is an absolute abomination and another partisan knife stuck in the heart of our Democracy by Crooked Joe Biden, who was granted the right to muzzle his political opponent, the leading candidate for the Presidency in 2024, and the most popular political leader in America, President Donald J. Trump,” a Trump spokesperson said. “President Trump will continue to fight for our Constitution, the American people’s right to support him, and to keep our country free of the chains of weaponized and targeted law enforcement.”

Last month, Smith asked for a “narrow” gag order over concerns that Trump could make statements that “present a serious and substantial danger of prejudicing.”

Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges he faces.

This is the second time in less than two weeks that a judge has muzzled the former president. Earlier this month, a Manhattan judge issued a limited gag order on Trump after he made comments about the judge's clerk.

“What does somebody do in the face of oppression in a system that now approaches totalitarianism …? In President Trump’s mind, that’s what he is facing right now,” Trump’s attorney John Lauro said. “George Orwell would have a field day with what we’re hearing from these prosecutors.”

Some may argue that this case in itself is an attack on not just the political system, but also the First Amendment in which one is protected to freely discuss political issues, which may include contesting election-related issues.

Trump is being prosecuted because he allegedly “spread lies” regarding the 2020 election by claiming “that he had actually won,” according to the indictment, and subsequently eroded “public faith in the administration of the election,” according to the indictment.

But this leads one to only question what the facts are since the indictment appears to be based on opinion.

Since when was special counsel Jack Smith the arbiter of truth?

Ironically, the indictment does not charge the former president with sedition or inciting anything in relation to Jan. 6, but I guess that is beside the point since the real issue is whether or not Trump “spread lies.”

But at this point, Trump probably does not even have to say another word, and he would still probably lead in the polls.