gag order
16 entries across the record carry this tag. Browse all dispatches, or jump to a group below.
Dispatches
- June 9, 2026 · Dispatch
Under a gag order barring 'any comment about any aspect of this case,' Mace uses her televised concession speech to talk about 'predators that got away in my case'
On the night of June 9, 2026, after conceding the South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary, Nancy Mace told her Charleston election-night crowd, and a live television audience, that she had talked to Attorney General Alan Wilson 'about my case' and would help his administration ensure that 'predators that got away in my case … we finally put criminals behind bars.' Mace is a third-party defendant in Berg v. Bryant, where a November 26, 2025 gag order bars every party from 'making or publishing any comment about any aspect of this case' or about any party or person connected to it, and a January 12, 2026 civil-contempt motion over her earlier public statements remains pending. Both orders are reproduced in full below. Mace contends the gag order is unconstitutional; all underlying allegations are unproven and contested, and no court has ruled on the June 9 remarks.
- January 21, 2026 · Dispatch
In a letter to the judge overseeing her gag order, Mace calls the court a 'Kangaroo Court' and moves the contempt matter to federal court: 'I will not be SILENCED.'
On January 21, 2026, Rep. Nancy Mace wrote directly to Judge Donald B. Hocker, the Charleston County circuit judge presiding over Berg v. Bryant, the case in which she is a third-party defendant under a gag order, calling the court a 'Kangaroo Court,' declaring the gag order unconstitutional, and announcing she was removing the contempt proceeding against her to federal court. Mace wrote the letter pro se, after she says she had discharged her counsel; it was stamped FILED on the state docket January 22, 2026. The full five-page filing is reproduced below. The allegations underlying the litigation are disputed and contested; Mace denies Bryant's claims, and Bryant denies Mace's.
- January 11, 2026 · Dispatch
While the gag order holds, Mace promotes her 'Predators Act' as 'deeply personal'
On January 11, 2026, with the Berg v. Bryant gag order in effect and days before the court's supplemental order, Mace promoted her 'Preventing Prosecutors from Protecting Predators Act' from her verified @RepNancyMace account, calling it 'deeply personal' and tying it to 'trauma' she says she experienced 'two years ago.' Opposing counsel flagged the post as a continued public statement about matters connected to the case.
- January 3, 2026 · Dispatch
While the gag order holds, Mace proposes Aggravated Voyeurism Act and ties it to her 'personal experiences' as a victim
On January 3, 2026, with the Berg v. Bryant gag order in effect, Rep. Nancy Mace announced the Aggravated Voyeurism Act at the South Carolina statehouse and publicly tied it to her 'personal experiences' as a self-described victim of voyeurism. The announcement was not cited in the contempt motion filed January 12, 2026; it is presented here as a public statement made during the order's effective period. Mace disputes the validity and scope of the gag order.
- December 31, 2025 · Dispatch
A pinned post viewed 20,000+ times: Mace calls South Carolina a 'pedophile paradise' while the gag order is in effect
On December 31, 2025, from her verified @RepNancyMace account, Mace published and pinned a post attacking the South Carolina Attorney General, calling the state a 'pedophile paradise' at a time when a gag order in Berg v. Bryant was in effect. The post reportedly re-shared content from her December 27, 2025 video. A contempt motion filed January 12, 2026 attaches it as Exhibit 9 and notes the post had been viewed more than 20,000 times. Mace disputes the validity of the gag order and its application to her.
- December 27, 2025 · Dispatch
Bowman's lawyer reports a December 27 Instagram video to the judge as a gag-order violation
On December 27, 2025, while the Berg v. Bryant gag order was in effect, Mace posted a video on Instagram from @repnancymace; counsel for co-defendant Eric Bowman, Robert Merting, emailed Judge Hocker on December 29 to report it, and Bryant and Bowman's January 12, 2026 contempt motion attaches it as Exhibits 5-7, contending it referred to Bowman by name in terms implying criminal conduct 'that has not been alleged in this litigation.'
- December 1, 2025 · Dispatch
While under the gag order, Mace's congressional office sends a mass newsletter about the case: 'I WILL NOT be silenced.'
On December 1, 2025, while the Berg v. Bryant gag order was in effect, a mass email newsletter from Rep. Nancy Mace's congressional office, headlined 'Rep. Nancy Mace says 2 more women accuse her ex-fiancé of abuse,' named Patrick Bryant, recited unproven allegations, and declared 'I WILL NOT be silenced.' Bryant and Bowman's January 12, 2026 contempt motion attaches the newsletter as Exhibit 8, contending it violated the gag order.
- November 28, 2025 · Dispatch
Two days into the gag order, Mace posts: 'IMPEACH ALL CORRUPT JUDGES', 'especially including those in South Carolina SPECIFICALLY.'
On November 28, 2025, two days after Judge Hocker entered the sua sponte gag order in Berg v. Bryant, Mace posted from her verified @RepNancyMace account calling to impeach 'all corrupt judges,' adding in the same thread 'especially including those in South Carolina SPECIFICALLY.' Bryant and Bowman's January 12, 2026 contempt motion makes the post Exhibit 4 and contends it violated the gag order.
- November 26, 2025 · Dispatch
Under four hours after the gag order reached her lawyer, Mace posts about a co-defendant's bond: 'Not nearly enough.'
On November 26, 2025, the same day Judge Donald B. Hocker entered a sua sponte gag order in Berg v. Bryant and circulated it to all counsel at 2:23 p.m. Rep. Nancy Mace replied at 6:43 p.m. from her verified @RepNancyMace account to a post reporting that co-defendant Eric Bowman had been granted bond on domestic-violence and harassment charges, writing: 'Not nearly enough. Very concerned for the safety of his victims. Keeping them in my prayers tonight.' A contempt motion filed January 12, 2026 attaches the post as Exhibit 3 and contends it violated the order within hours of its issuance; Mace disputes both the motion and the validity of the order, calling it unconstitutional and unenforceable.
Wiki & people
Judge Donald B. Hocker
South Carolina Circuit Court judge specially assigned by order of the Supreme Court of South Carolina to preside over the entire cluster of Charleston County cases tied to Rep. Nancy Mace and Patrick Bryant, including Berg v. Bryant (Case No. 2025-CP-10-03124).
June 12, 2026 · Wiki
Nancy Mace's Gag Order Violations
A November 26, 2025 gag order bars Nancy Mace and the other parties in Berg v. Bryant from commenting on any aspect of the case, any party, or any attorney through any form of communication. This is that order. And a running record of the public statements she made after it, including the five that a January 2026 contempt motion asks the court to punish as repeated violations.
June 12, 2026 · Wiki
Litigation Overview & Court-Filing Index
A neutral, primary-source index of the South Carolina suits Nancy Mace has filed as plaintiff, a defamation case and a property case, with the public docket of each and links to the dispatches that quote the filings.
June 9, 2026 · Wiki
Media coverage
Nancy Mace: 'I WILL NOT BE SILENCED'
Mace filed a five-page letter attacking Judge Hocker as running a 'kangaroo court,' fired her attorneys, announced plans to represent herself, and declared she would not comply with the gag order, while simultaneously seeking removal of the case to federal court.
January 22, 2026 · Media
Gag Order Showdown: New Motion Targets Nancy Mace
Attorneys for Patrick Bryant and Eric Bowman filed a contempt motion seeking civil sanctions, and possible incarceration, against Mace for allegedly violating the court-ordered gag order within hours of its issuance through social media posts, campaign emails, and congressional newsletters.
January 13, 2026 · Media
Judge issues gag order restricting Nancy Mace and others from speaking about ongoing lawsuits
The Post and Courier reports that Judge Hocker imposed a sua sponte gag order barring Mace and eight other parties from publicly discussing two related civil lawsuits, following her February 2025 House floor speech accusing four men of sexual exploitation.
December 10, 2025 · Media
Gagged: Judge Issues Order in Nancy Mace Case
Retired S.C. circuit court judge Donald B. Hocker issued a gag order prohibiting Mace and other parties to the Berg-Bryant civil litigation from making any public statements about the cases, barring speech across all platforms including social media.
December 9, 2025 · Media