A Colorado judge on Friday issued a protective order banning threats and intimidation from either party involved in the lawsuit, which could remove former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 presidential ballot.
District Judge Sarah B. Wallace cited previous cases when deeming the protective order necessary in this case.
“I 100% understand everybody’s concerns for the parties, the lawyers, and frankly myself and my staff based on what we’ve seen in other cases,” said Wallace, per the Associated Press.
Trump’s lawyer, Scott Gessler, a former Secretary of State in Colorado, stated his opposition to the decision, pointing out that the law already prohibits threats and intimidation, per AP News.
Gessler added that the order was vague rather than pointedly targeting Trump, making it no different than orders in other big cases.
“The judge made clear that the protective order applied to everyone equally and was not directed at President Trump,” he said in a statement to Newsweek.
“In fact, she specifically removed some proposed language to show that she did not direct the order towards President Trump or anyone else specifically. This is nothing more than the standard order issued in similar high-profile cases.”
Sean Grimsley, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said on Friday that the order was necessary since “[a]t least one of the parties” tends to discuss “witnesses and the courts” on social media, per AP News.
The order was sought out by lawyers Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the same group that filed the suit against Trump.
The suit is based on Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment and is one of dozens that have been filed across the country.
However, this case is the first such suit filed against Trump backed by plaintiffs with a large amount of funding.
Section 3 bars anyone who has taken an oath to the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection” from running for another elected office, per AP News.
Plaintiffs in the trial are expected to center their case around Trump’s alleged contribution to the events at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Wallace has previously said she expects the case to be brought to the Colorado Supreme Court and that it could eventually work its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has never ruled on that provision of the amendment.
Due to these expectations, Wallace said she chose October 30 as the hearing date to allow the two courts time to hear the case for the state’s January 5 deadline to set the primary ballot, per AP News.