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Trump lawyers argue for narrower protective order in Jan. 6 case
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Trump legal team pushes back on protective order request
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Trump lawyers argue for narrower protective order in Jan. 6 case
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Trump attorneys respond to protective order request in 2020 election case
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Trump’s attorneys argue for narrower protective order in 2020 election case
Washington — Former President Donald Trump’s legal team said only “genuinely sensitive materials” should be shielded from public view in response to a request from special counsel Jack Smith, who asked a judge to limit what evidence could be publicly shared in the case involving Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
In a 29-page court filing on Monday, Trump attorney Todd Blanche and John Lauro argued for a much narrower protective order than Smith had proposed, saying “a less restrictive alternative that would satisfy any government interest in confidentiality while preserving the First Amendment rights of President Trump and the public.”
“In a trial about First Amendment rights, the government seeks to restrict First Amendment rights,” Trump’s attorneys wrote. “Worse, it does so against its administration’s primary political opponent, during an election season in which the administration, prominent party members, and media allies have campaigned on the indictment and proliferated its false allegations.”
The defense team said only material deemed “sensitive” — including grand jury information, material derived from sealed search warrants and personal details — should be blocked from public disclosure as the case progresses.
“President Trump does not contest the government’s claimed interest in restricting some of the documents it must produce, such as those containing Rule 49.1 information and Rule 6 grand jury materials,” the attorneys said, referring to personally identifiable information and grand jury material, respectively. “However, the need to protect that information does not require a blanket gag order over all documents produced by the government. Rather, the Court can, and should, limit its protective order to genuinely sensitive materials.”
Trump is charged with four criminal counts accusing him of trying to thwart the 2020 election results through several schemes that sought to block the transfer of power to President Biden. Trump has pleaded not guilty.
In a court filing last Friday, Smith said he was ready to hand over a “substantial” amount of evidence to Trump’s defense team, but asked U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan to issue a protective order that would bar Trump and his attorneys from improperly disclosing evidence. The government’s proposed order would apply to “[a]ll materials provided by the United States in preparation for, or in connection with, any stage of this case” and would bar their disclosure beyond the defense team, potential witnesses and their attorneys and others authorized by the court.
Smith said restrictions on what evidence could be made public are “particularly important in this case” because Trump has posted on social media about “witnesses, judges, attorneys, and others associated with legal matters pending against him.”
He pointed to a Truth Social post from Trump earlier Friday that said, “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!”
“If the defendant were to begin issuing public posts using details — or, for example, grand jury transcripts — obtained in discovery here, it could have a harmful chilling effect on witnesses or adversely affect the fair administration of justice in this case,” the court filing said.
Trump’s campaign said in a statement Saturday that the Truth Social post was in response to “dishonest special interest groups” and political committees that have attacked him.
Trump’s lawyers also addressed that post in Monday’s filing, saying it “does nothing to support the [government’s] Proposed Order.”
“The government argues that, based on this post, there is a danger that President Trump might publish grand jury transcripts or other sensitive information,” they said. “A provocative claim when searching for
headlines, perhaps, but one that falters under minimal scrutiny.”
The filing argued that the government “does not explain how a post on a different topic, which does not include or describe sensitive information, suggests President Trump might disseminate such information in the future.”
The former president’s legal team had sought more time to respond to the government’s request for a protective order, but Chutkan denied the request, keeping in place a Monday afternoon deadline.
In the hours leading up to the deadline, Trump lashed out at Smith and Chutkan in a series of Truth Social posts.
“I shouldn’t have a protective order placed on me because it would impinge upon my right to FREE SPEECH,” Trump said in one.
Trump seeks to narrow special counsel’s proposed protective order in election case
Donald Trump’s lawyers on Monday asked a judge to narrow the protective order proposed by federal prosecutors last week aimed at prohibiting the former president from publicly disclosing certain evidence gathered during the special counsel’s 2020 election probe.
In a 29-page filing, Trump’s lawyers argued that the government’s proposal was “overbroad” and instead asked Judge Tanya Chutkan to adopt a revised order “to shield only genuinely sensitive materials from public view.”
“The government requests the Court assume the role of censor and impose content-based regulations on President Trump’s political speech that would forbid him from publicly discussing or disclosing all non-public documents produced by the government, including both purportedly sensitive material and non sensitive potentially exculpatory documents,” they wrote.
A spokesperson for the special counsel’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In their proposal Friday, prosecutors cited Trump’s social media posts in asking the judge to prohibit the former president and his defense team from publicly disclosing certain evidence in the case.
Trump’s disclosure of details or grand jury transcripts “could have a harmful chilling effect on witnesses or adversely affect the fair administration of justice in this case,” the prosecutors argued in their motion.
Chutkan had ordered Trump’s attorneys to respond to the government’s proposal by 5 p.m. ET on Monday.
Trump was arraigned last week on charges that included conspiracy to defraud the United States. He pleaded not guilty and has publicly condemned the allegations against him.
Earlier on Monday, in a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump suggested the special counsel was trampling his First Amendment rights and described Chutkan as Smith’s “number one draft pick,” demanding her recusal.
The indictment noted the former president’s First Amendment right to “speak publicly” and make false claims about the election and challenge the results through “lawful and appropriate means” such as recounts or lawsuits. But it sought to differentiate such speech from “unlawful means of discounting legitimate votes and subverting the election results.”
Chutkan, who once rejected Trump’s request to stop the House Jan. 6 committee from obtaining White House documents from his administration related to the Capitol riot, was randomly assigned to oversee proceedings in the 2020 election case.
She is expected to schedule a trial date in the case at a hearing set for Aug. 28.
Prosecutors ask judge to issue protective order after Trump post appearing to promise revenge
The Justice Department has asked a federal judge overseeing the criminal case against former President Donald Trump in Washington to step in after he released a post online that appeared to promise revenge on anyone who goes after him.
Prosecutors on Friday requested that U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan issue a protective order concerning evidence in the case, a day after Trump pleaded not guilty to charges of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss and block the peaceful transition of power. The order, different from a “gag order,” would limit what information Trump and his legal team could share publicly about the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith.
Chutkan on Saturday gave Trump’s legal team until 5 p.m. Monday to respond to the government’s request. Trump’s legal team, which has indicated he would look to slow the case down despite prosecutors’ pledge of a speedy trial, then filed a request to extend the response deadline to Thursday and to hold a hearing on the matter, saying it needed more time for discussion.
Chutkan swiftly denied that extension request Saturday evening, reaffirming that Trump must abide by Monday’s deadline.
Protective orders are common in criminal cases, but prosecutors said it’s “particularly important in this case” because Trump has posted on social media about “witnesses, judges, attorneys, and others associated with legal matters pending against him.”
Prosecutors pointed specifically to a post on Trump’s Truth Social platform from earlier Friday in which Trump wrote, in all capital letters, “If you go after me, I’m coming after you!”
Prosecutors said they are ready to hand over a “substantial” amount of evidence — “much of which includes sensitive and confidential information” — to Trump’s legal team.
They told the judge that if Trump were to begin posting about grand jury transcripts or other evidence provided by the Justice Department, it could have a “harmful chilling effect on witnesses or adversely affect the fair administration of justice in this case.”
Prosecutors’ proposed protective order seeks to prevent Trump and his lawyers from disclosing materials provided by the government to anyone other than people on his legal team, possible witnesses, the witnesses’ lawyers or others approved by the court. It would put stricter limits on “sensitive materials,” which would include grand jury witness testimony and materials obtained through sealed search warrants.
A Trump spokesperson said in an emailed statement that the former president’s post “is the definition of political speech,” and was made in response to “dishonest special interest groups and Super PACs.”
Chutkan, a former assistant public defender nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama, has been one of the toughest punishers of rioters who stormed the Capitol in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, fueled by Trump’s baseless claims of a stolen election.
The indictment unsealed this past week accuses Republican Trump of brazenly conspiring with allies to spread falsehoods and concoct schemes intended to overturn his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden as his legal challenges floundered in court.
The indictment chronicles how Trump and his allies, in what Smith described as an attack on a “bedrock function of the U.S. government,” repeatedly lied about the results in the two months after he lost the election and pressured his vice president, Mike Pence, and state election officials to take action to help him cling to power.
Trump faces charges including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and conspiracy to obstruct Congress’ certification of Biden’s electoral victory.
It’s the third criminal case brought this year against the the early front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary. But it’s the first case to try to hold Trump responsible for his efforts to remain in power during the chaotic weeks between his election loss and the attack by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Smith has also charged Trump in Florida federal court with illegally hoarding classified documents at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate and thwarting government efforts to get them back.
The magistrate judge in that case agreed to a protective order in June that prohibits Trump and his legal team from publicly disclosing evidence turned over to them by prosecutors without prior approval. Prosecutors are seeking another protective order in that case with more rules about the defense team’s handling of classified evidence.
After his court appearance on Thursday in the Washington case, Trump characterized the prosecution as a “persecution” designed to hurt his 2024 presidential campaign. His legal team has described it as an attack on his right to free speech and his right to challenge an election that he believed had been stolen.
Smith has said prosecutors will seek a “speedy trial” against Trump in the election case. Judge Chutkan has ordered the government to file a brief by Thursday proposing a trial date. The first court hearing in front of Chutkan is scheduled for Aug. 28.
Trump is already scheduled to stand trial in March in the New York case stemming from hush-money payments made during the 2016 campaign and in May in the classified documents case.
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Richer reported from Boston.
DOJ asks judge to issue protective order in Trump election interference case
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Justice Department requests protective order in Trump election interference case to limit his public comments
The Justice Department has asked a federal judge overseeing the criminal case against former President Donald Trump in Washington to step in after he released a post online that appeared to promise revenge on anyone who goes after him.
Prosecutors on Friday requested that U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan issue a protective order concerning evidence in the case, a day after Trump pleaded not guilty to charges of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss and block the peaceful transition of power. The order, different from a “gag order,” would limit what information Trump and his legal team could share publicly about the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith.
Chutkan on Saturday gave Trump’s legal team until 5 p.m. Monday to respond to the government’s request. Trump’s legal team, which has indicated he would look to slow the case down despite prosecutors’ pledge of a speedy trial, then filed a request to extend the response deadline to Thursday and to hold a hearing on the matter, saying it needed more time for discussion.
Chutkan swiftly denied that extension request Saturday evening, reaffirming that Trump must abide by Monday’s deadline.
Protective orders are common in criminal cases, but prosecutors said it’s “particularly important in this case” because Trump has posted on social media about “witnesses, judges, attorneys, and others associated with legal matters pending against him.”
Prosecutors pointed specifically to a post on Trump’s Truth Social platform from earlier Friday in which Trump wrote, in all capital letters, “If you go after me, I’m coming after you!”
Prosecutors said they are ready to hand over a “substantial” amount of evidence — “much of which includes sensitive and confidential information” — to Trump’s legal team.
They told the judge that if Trump were to begin posting about grand jury transcripts or other evidence provided by the Justice Department, it could have a “harmful chilling effect on witnesses or adversely affect the fair administration of justice in this case.”
Prosecutors’ proposed protective order seeks to prevent Trump and his lawyers from disclosing materials provided by the government to anyone other than people on his legal team, possible witnesses, the witnesses’ lawyers or others approved by the court. It would put stricter limits on “sensitive materials,” which would include grand jury witness testimony and materials obtained through sealed search warrants.
A Trump spokesperson said in an emailed statement that the former president’s post “is the definition of political speech,” and was made in response to “dishonest special interest groups and Super PACs.”
Chutkan, a former assistant public defender nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama, has been one of the toughest punishers of rioters who stormed the Capitol in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, fueled by Trump’s baseless claims of a stolen election.
The indictment unsealed this past week accuses Trump of brazenly conspiring with allies to spread falsehoods and concoct schemes intended to overturn his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden as his legal challenges floundered in court.
The indictment chronicles how Trump and his allies, in what Smith described as an attack on a “bedrock function of the U.S. government,” repeatedly lied about the results in the two months after he lost the election and pressured his vice president, Mike Pence, and state election officials to take action to help him cling to power.
Trump faces charges including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and conspiracy to obstruct Congress’ certification of Biden’s electoral victory.
It’s the third criminal case brought this year against the early front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary. But it’s the first case to try to hold Trump responsible for his efforts to remain in power during the chaotic weeks between his election loss and the attack by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Smith has also charged Trump in Florida federal court with illegally hoarding classified documents at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate and thwarting government efforts to get them back.
The magistrate judge, in that case, agreed to a protective order in June that prohibits Trump and his legal team from publicly disclosing evidence turned over to them by prosecutors without prior approval. Prosecutors are seeking another protective order in that case with more rules about the defense team’s handling of classified evidence.
Trump is scheduled to stand trial in March in the New York case stemming from alleged “hush-money” payments made during the 2016 campaign, and in May in the classified documents case.
After his court appearance on Thursday in the Washington case, Trump characterized the prosecution as a “persecution” designed to hurt his 2024 presidential campaign. His legal team has described it as an attack on his right to free speech and his right to challenge an election that he believed had been stolen.
Smith has said prosecutors will seek a “speedy trial” against Trump in the election case. Judge Chutkan has ordered the government to file a brief by Thursday proposing a trial date. The first court hearing in front of Chutkan is scheduled for Aug. 28.