Former President Donald Trump asked a judge Monday to issue only a narrow order restricting what he can say about evidence and witnesses as he awaits trial on charges of trying to overturn the 2020 election.
Hours after trashing U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan and special counsel Jack Smith, Trump’s lawyers asked the judge to only restrict Trump from revealing secret grand jury testimony, claiming that the Republican presidential front-runner must have the right to talk about the case.
“The government seeks to restrict First Amendment rights. Worse, it does so against its administration’s primary political opponent, during an election season,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in a filing submitted just before a 5 p.m. deadline.
The filing came in response to Smith’s demand for an order barring Trump from discussing any evidence publicly or threatening any potential witnesses.
Chutkan didn’t give any indication when she might rule.
Trump earlier blasted Chutkan as the prosecution’s “number one draft pick." He called for a new jurist to be appointed to oversee his historic trial even though his defense team has not made any such motion in court.
“Deranged Jack Smith is going before his number one draft pick, the Judge of his “dreams” (WHO MUST BE RECUSED!), in an attempt to take away my FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS,” Trump posted on his social media site.
He later followed up that post with a more direct dispatch aimed at the potential gag orders, saying “I shouldn’t have a protective order placed on me because it would impinge upon my right to FREE SPEECH.”
The new outburst came after Trump issued a less-than-veiled threat over the weekend to retaliate against his perceived tormentors.
“If you go after me I’m coming after you,” Trump wrote.
Smith flagged that post over the weekend, calling on Chutkan — who was appointed to the federal bench by then-President Barack Obama — to consider a new order restricting Trump from threatening witnesses or other people connected to the case.
Trump also slammed former Vice President Mike Pence after his one-time loyal lieutenant said he would be willing to testify about his refusal to go along with Trump’s alleged plot to stay in power.
Chutkan demanded that Trump defense lawyers file papers responding to the prosecution’s request for tighter restrictions on the former president by Monday afternoon. She rejected the former president’s request for more time to make his argument.
It’s not unusual for defendants facing criminal charges to be ordered to keep quiet about the evidence in their cases and to avoid threatening potential witnesses like Pence.
But any restrictions will surely be greeted with howls of protest from Trump, who claims he has the right to verbally attack anyone he wants because he is running for president in 2024.
Aside from the proposed restrictions on Trump, Chutkan is also mulling a schedule for the former president’s trial ahead of a planned Aug. 28 hearing.
She ordered Smith’s team to propose a planned trial date and to disclose how long it expects a trial to take by later this week. Trump’s defense team will have a week to respond.
Trump, who holds a dominant lead in the Republican presidential primary, was arraigned last week on four counts including conspiring to defraud the U.S., conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding and depriving people of rights.
Smith says Trump mounted a multipronged effort to overturn his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden, including spewing bogus claims of widespread voter fraud and creating slates of fake pro-Trump electors from states Biden won.
When those efforts failed, he urged a crowd of his loyal supporters to “fight like hell” in a speech on Jan. 6, a call that led them to storm the Capitol in an effort to physically block Congress from certifying Biden’s win. An attorney for Trump said the president pointed out that he told supporters in that same speech to “peacefully” make their voices heard.
Trump also could face impending charges in a Georgia state election interference case. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis suggested possible indictments are coming this month for Trump or others for trying to overturn Biden’s win in the Peach State.
Trump also faces a May 2024 trial date in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case and a March trial in Manhattan over hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels.
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