An attorney representing Donald Trump faced intense questioning Monday morning in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, as he argued that the former president has a First Amendment right to speak about his federal election interference case. A lawyer from special counsel Jack Smith’s office did not start his presentation until 10:50 a.m., 80 minutes into the hearing. The government says that without guardrails on his speech, Trump will intimidate witnesses, incite threats against government employees and distort public understanding of the case. The gag order imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Tanya S. Chutkan is on hold until the three-judge appellate panel weighs in on whether it is constitutional. You can listen to the audio feed here, or follow along with us (or both!).

Both perspectives have already been aired in U.S. District Court. Chutkan put some limits on Trump’s speech but not as many as prosecutors sought. (The same limits apply to the special counsel’s office, but Justice Department policy already precludes out-of-court statements by prosecutors.) Trump can attack President Biden and the Justice Department, including by claiming they are prosecuting him for political reasons. But he can’t single out individual prosecutors, court staffers or witnesses.

Trump’s attorneys said those rules “muzzle the core political speech of the leading candidate for President at the height of his reelection campaign,” while allowing “purported witnesses” to “...

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