of course the government has to prove intent (beyond reasonable doubt), which is not easy, but also getting sued in US federal criminal court, even with good od

of course the government has to prove intent (beyond reasonable doubt), which is not easy, but also getting sued in US federal criminal court, even with good odds is also not what you'd call a non-issue. setting up warrant canaries is probably a good idea if you have the ideological conviction to face the government's bullying. spending some money on getting lawyers' opinion is also probably a very good idea. but all this serves as evidence for intent. so it's not that simple to do it with some persuasive/plausible alternative explanation. the whole point of gag orders and the mandated/compelled performance is to help whatever investigation. of course if someone doesn't cooperate with law enforcement and/or the prosecutor that's their choice, and in this case it's basically itself a charge. (obstruction of justice is not a new thing after all.) the complication is that speech is a special action.