WASHINGTON • A U.S. appeals court on Friday largely upheld a judge’s gag order that bars Donald Trump from publicly assailing prosecutors, court staff and potential witnesses in a federal criminal case accusing the then-president of illegally trying to overturn his 2020 election loss.

A three-judge panel of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals kept most of the restrictions imposed by the original order, but lifted the prohibition on Trump personally criticizing Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the prosecution.

“We agree with the district court that some aspects of Mr. Trump’s public statements pose a significant and imminent threat to the fair and orderly adjudication of the ongoing criminal proceeding,” Judge Patricia Millett wrote in the order.

But the court found the initial gag order “sweeps in more protected speech than is necessary.”

Trump challenged the order as an infringement on his right to free speech under the U.S. Constitution, especially as he campaigns for president as the front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination.

“President Trump will continue to fight for the First Amendment rights of tens of millions of Americans to hear from the leading presidential candidate at the height of his campaign,” a Trump campaign spokesperson said following the ruling.

A spokesperson for Smith declined to comment.

The case is due to go to trial in Washington in March.

Trump has pleaded not guilty.

While placing some limits on Trump, U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan’s gag order allowed him to keep up his drumbeat of accusations against the Justice Department, which he accuses of trying to harm him politically.