Donald Trump’s legal team on Monday urged the judge overseeing the election conspiracy case against the former president to dismiss the prosecution’s proposed order of protection over evidence in the case, saying it was too broad and restrictive of his First Amendment rights.
Lawyers for the Republican presidential front-runner in early 2024 said a judge should impose a limited protective order that would prevent public disclosure of only material deemed “sensitive” — such as grand jury documents — rather than all evidence presented by the government in an impeachment case. Trump plotting to overturn his loss in the 2020 election.
Trump’s lawyers, who have called the case an attack on his right to free speech, told the judge that the need to protect sensitive information about the case “does not require a blanket gag order on all government-produced documents.”
“In a trial on First Amendment rights, the government is seeking to limit First Amendment rights,” Trump’s lawyers wrote. “Worse, it is doing so against its administration’s main political opponent, during election season, as the administration and prominent party members and media allies have campaigned on the indictment and spread its false allegations.”
The defense filing was in response to a request Friday from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team of Protective orderwhich would impose rules on what Trump and his defense team can do with evidence presented by the government as they prepare for trial in the case that was revealed last week.
The protection order proposed by the prosecution seeks to prevent Trump and his attorneys from disclosing materials provided by the government to anyone other than members of his legal team, potential witnesses, witness attorneys, or others approved by the court. It would place stricter limits on “sensitive materials,” which would include grand jury witness testimony and materials obtained through sealed search warrants. Under the government’s proposal, Trump could only be shown “sensitive” documents, not obtain copies himself.
Protective orders are not unusual in criminal cases, but prosecutors said they are especially important in this case because Trump routinely takes to social media to discuss legal cases against him.
Protective orders are not unusual in criminal cases, but prosecutors said they are especially important in this case because Trump routinely takes to social media to discuss legal cases against him.
Prosecutors included a screenshot in their file post from Trump’s social platform Truth Social from Friday in which Trump wrote, in block letters, “If you chase me, I will follow you!”
Trump has denied wrongdoing in the case, as well as in another federal case filed by Smith accusing Trump of committing an illegal crime. Hoarding confidential documents At his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida.
A Trump spokesperson said the former president’s social media post “is the definition of political speech” and was issued in response to “dishonest special interest groups and high-profile political action committees.”
Prosecutors said they are prepared to turn over a significant amount of evidence to Trump’s legal team and that much of it includes sensitive and confidential information. This information could include witness testimony from the grand jury that investigated the case, and the proceedings of that grand jury are confidential.
“If the defendant were to begin to make public publications using the details — or, for example, grand jury transcripts — obtained when discovered here might have a chilling effect on witnesses or adversely affect the fair administration of justice in this case, prosecutors wrote in their motion.
Trump pleaded not guilty last week to four criminal charges, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct congressional certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory. The charges may result in a long prison sentence if convicted, with the most serious charges requiring a sentence of up to 20 years.
It is the third criminal case filed this year against a front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary. But it is the first to try to hold him accountable for his efforts to stay in power during the chaotic weeks between his election loss and his supporters’ attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Smith also charged Trump in June with dozens of criminal counts alleging that the former president illegally kept classified records after he left the White House and obstructed government efforts to recover them. A new indictment unsealed recently in that case accuses Trump of conspiring with Mar-a-Lago employees to try to delete security footage investigators are looking for.
Judge Bruce Reinhart imposed a similar protective order in June that bars Trump and his legal team from publicly disclosing evidence that prosecutors turn over to them without prior approval. Prosecutors are seeking another protective order in this case with more rules about the defense team’s handling of classified evidence.
Trump has described all of the cases against him as an attempt to end his 2024 campaign. His legal team has indicated that he will say he relied on the advice of the lawyers around him in 2020 and that the latest case is an assault on his right to free speech and his right to challenge an election he believes was stolen.
Trump’s lawyers on Saturday requested an additional three days to respond to the prosecution’s request for a protective order, saying they needed more time to argue. But Judge Tanya Chutkan quickly denied this request.
