Trump admin hit with stern rebuke as bid to silence UN expert hits major snag

The Trump administration's effort to silence a United Nations expert hit a major snag, with a judge ruling it violated her right to free speech.

A federal judge temporarily blocked sanctions against Italian lawyer Francesca Albanese, a UN expert on the Palestinian territories, according to reporting by the Guardian on Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon wrote in his opinion that "Albanese has done nothing more than speak!"

Albanese recommended that the International Criminal Court prosecute United States and Israeli nationals for war crimes in Gaza, The Guardian reported. Secretary of State Marco Rubio responded by sanctioning Albanese last year and barred her from entering the U.S. or banking there, according to the Guardian.

Family members of Albanese with U.S. citizenship sued the Trump administration in February and alleged that the sanctions were "effectively debanking her and making it nearly impossible to meet the needs of her daily life," according to reporting by the Guardian.

Leon wrote that the Trump administration wanted to regulate her speech because of the "idea or message expressed," which is protected by the First Amendment, the Guardian wrote.

"It is undisputed that her recommendations have no binding effect on the ICC's actions - they are nothing more than her opinion."