Legal team requests judicial intervention following a vengeful post by Trump

65

On Friday, the Justice Department requested a federal judge supervising the criminal lawsuit against former President Donald Trump in Washington to intervene in response to an online post by Trump that seemed to threaten reprisal against anyone who opposes him.

Distinct from a so-called “gag order,” this would restrict the details Trump and his lawyers could publicly disseminate about the case presented by Special Counsel Jack Smith.

These protective orders are commonplace in criminal trials, but prosecutors underlined that it is “especially crucial in this case” since Trump has communicated on social media about “witnesses, judges, lawyers, and others involved in ongoing legal affairs against him.”

Prosecutors directed the judge’s attention specifically to a post on Trump’s Truth Social platform from earlier Friday, where Trump declared, in capital letters, “If you attack me, I’ll retaliate!”

Prosecutors stated they are prepared to provide a “significant” volume of evidence — “a considerable amount of which encompasses confidential and sensitive data” — to Trump’s legal team.

They alerted the judge that if Trump started publishing about grand jury transcripts or other evidence supplied by the Justice Department, it could lead to a “damaging inhibiting effect on witnesses or detrimentally impact the fair administration of justice in this case.”

The protective order proposed by prosecutors aims to prohibit Trump and his attorneys from divulging government-provided materials to anyone outside of his legal team, potential witnesses, the witnesses’ lawyers, or others authorized by the court. It would place tighter constraints on “sensitive materials,” encompassing grand jury witness testimony and materials gathered through sealed search warrants.

A spokesperson for Trump declared via an emailed statement that the former president’s post “is the epitome of political speech,” and was issued in reaction to “deceptive special interest groups and Super PACs.”

The indictment revealed this week charges Trump with boldly collaborating with allies to disseminate lies and contrive plans to reverse his election defeat to President Joe Biden as his legal appeals stumbled in court.

The indictment narrates how Trump and his Republican associates, in what Smith labeled an assault on a “fundamental operation of the U.S. government,” continually distorted the results in the two months following his election defeat and pressured his Vice President, Mike Pence, and state election officials to take measures to help him maintain power.

Trump is facing charges such as conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and conspiracy to hinder Congress’ certification of Biden’s electoral triumph.

This marks the third criminal case initiated this year against the early leading candidate in the 2024 Republican presidential primary. However, it is the first case seeking to hold Trump accountable for his attempts to retain power during the tumultuous weeks between his election defeat and the assault on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters on January 6, 2021.

Following his court appearance on Thursday before a magistrate judge, Trump depicted the case as a “persecution” aimed to damage his 2024 presidential campaign. His lawyers have portrayed it as an infringement on his freedom of speech and his right to contest an election he believed was fraudulently conducted.

Smith declared that prosecutors will strive for a “quick trial” against Trump in the election case. Judge Chutkan has instructed the government to submit a brief by Thursday proposing a trial date. The initial court hearing before Chutkan is set for August 28.

Trump is already scheduled to appear in court in March in a New York case related to hush-money payments made during the 2016 campaign and in May in a federal case in Florida resulting from classified documents discovered at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

---

This report is by Richer from Boston.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Trump’s protective order request

More about Trump’s protective order request

• Justice Department’s Protective Order Request
• Trump’s Online Threat
• Special Counsel Jack Smith
• Details on Trump’s Charges
• Trump’s Other Legal Cases