Prosecutors have asked a US judge to limit the information former President Donald Trump can publicly display in connection with the latest indictment against him, citing a threatening post he described as “political speech” by his campaign team.
Special Prosecutor Jack Smith, who has accused Trump of seeking to reverse the results of the 2020 election, issued, on Friday evening, a memorandum urging a federal judge to issue a precautionary order regarding evidence disclosed in the pre-trial phase to prevent the former president from revealing the details of the case.
This development comes hours after Trump ignored a judge’s warning that he should not discuss the case with any of the potential witnesses by publishing it, which was considered a blatant threat on his social network, “Truth Social.”
Trump pleads not guilty of conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election
“If you come after me, I will come after you,” Trump’s post read.
Trump leads the polls among Republican figures seeking to win the party’s candidacy for the presidency in the year 2024, and he has pleaded not guilty to four counts of conspiracy to reverse the election results and obstruction of justice, which is the most dangerous he faces within the framework of a group of cases.
The post, which was circulated on social media, was mentioned and attached to the memorandum that Smith addressed to Judge Tanya Chutkan, which indicated precedents for Trump in terms of attacking people related to criminal cases against him.
Smith’s memorandum said that “what the proposed order seeks to prevent is the improper publication or use of disclosed material” in the pre-trial phase, “including to the public.”
“This prohibition is of great importance in this case because the defendant has previously issued public statements on social media in connection with witnesses, judges, lawyers and others who are related to pending judicial matters against him,” the memorandum continued.
The memorandum added that if the defendant made public publications regarding the details of or what the jury said during the process of revealing evidence in the pre-trial stage, “this matter could have a harmful and chilling effect on the witnesses or negatively affect the fair administration of justice in the court.” This issue”.
Donald Trump in the dock
The Trump campaign was quick to respond to the memo.
On Saturday morning, a campaign statement quoted a Trump spokesperson as saying the post on TruthSocial was “political speech,” arguing that the 77-year-old billionaire was referring to his political opponents and not to individuals linked to the election interference case.
The back-and-forth would fuel tensions in Washington over Trump’s judicial troubles, which he and Republican leaders described as efforts by the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden to marginalize the latter’s biggest political opponent.
On Friday night, Trump participated in a campaign rally in Alabama, in which he addressed his supporters, saying that the accusation against him was a “desperate act” by Biden and his “radical left-wing thugs to keep power in their grip,” describing the Democratic president as a “failure” and “fraud.”
The White House confirmed that the Department of Justice operates independently and that the Biden team is not involved in the cases facing Trump.
#Prosecution #Trump #requests #precautionary #order #threat
2023-08-05 16:28:40
