A federal judge on Tuesday reinstated a gag order in the case of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, but issued a narrower order than the one he had issued previously.
The order requires the Justice Department, defendants and their lawyers to refrain from making public statements that could prejudice the jury pool. But the order does not place any limits on press coverage of the case.
The order was requested by prosecutors, who argue that the ongoing publicity in the case could make it harder to select an impartial jury. The broader gag order had been temporarily suspended in a February ruling by a federal appeals court.
Judge Amit Mehta’s new order states that parties to the case will not make statements that could prejudice potential jurors, including comments about the case as a whole, the defendants’ guilt, the strength of the government’s evidence, the strength of the defense’s theories, and the credibility of witnesses.
The order does not forbid any discussion of the facts of the case or the legal arguments, but rather serves to prevent any comments that could “create a great risk of prejudice” in the eyes of potential jurors.
