Judge Denies Request to Bar Trump
Judge Denies Request to Bar Trump from Speaking Publicly
On Tuesday, the judge presiding over Donald Trump's classified documents case in Florida denied prosecutors' request to prevent the former president from making public statements that could jeopardize law enforcement agents involved in the case.
Prosecutors argued before U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon that the restriction was needed to safeguard law enforcement from potential threats and harassment.
This request followed Trump's unfounded claim that the Biden administration aimed to kill him during a search of his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, nearly two years ago.
Cannon’s Reprimand and Warning to Prosecutors
Judge Cannon reprimanded prosecutors in her order denying their request, stating they did not give defense lawyers sufficient time to discuss the matter before filing it on Friday evening.
Judge Cannon denies request to bar Trump from making statements about law enforcement https://t.co/o1X8YO7rbW pic.twitter.com/9U31kIFN0M
— ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) May 28, 2024
Source: Twitter/ABC7
She warned prosecutors that future non-compliance with court requirements could result in sanctions and denied the request without prejudice, allowing prosecutors to refile it.
A spokesperson for special counsel Jack Smith's team declined to comment on Tuesday.
Ongoing Legal Battles
The judge's decision coincided with Trump's lawyers presenting their closing arguments in a separate criminal trial in New York related to a hush money payment to a porn actor during the 2016 presidential campaign.
This incident highlights the ongoing tension between Cannon, who was appointed by Trump, and the prosecutors who have charged the former president with illegally keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate and obstructing the FBI's efforts to retrieve them. Trump has pleaded not guilty and denies any wrongdoing.
Judge Cannon has reprimanded prosecutors in both hearings and court documents on various issues, even telling special counsel Jack Smith's team during one hearing that they were "wasting the court’s time."
Prosecutors have expressed increasing frustration with Cannon's rulings, stating in a recent filing that one of her requests was based on a "fundamentally flawed legal premise."
Prosecutors’ Urgent Request
The prosecutors' request came after Trump made a distorted claim last week, alleging that FBI agents who searched his Mar-a-Lago estate in August 2022 were "authorized to shoot me" and were "locked & loaded ready to take me out & put my family in danger."
Trump's claim referred to a court document disclosure indicating that the FBI, during the search, adhered to a standard use-of-force policy. This policy allows deadly force only if the officer conducting the search reasonably believes the subject poses an imminent threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or another person.
The Justice Department's policy is standard and aims to limit, rather than encourage, the use of force during searches. Prosecutors highlighted that the search of Trump's Florida property was conducted while he and his family were out of state and was coordinated in advance with the U.S. Secret Service. No force was used.
Defense Attorneys’ Response
In court papers filed late Friday, prosecutors argued that Trump's false claim that federal agents were "complicit in a plot to assassinate him" exposes law enforcement officers to the risk of threats, violence, and harassment.
They urged the judge to bar Trump from making any comments that "pose a significant, imminent, and foreseeable danger to law enforcement agents" involved in the case.
Defense attorneys responded in a filing late Monday, calling the proposed restriction on Trump's speech "unconstitutional" and noting that the identities of law enforcement officers are protected from public release by a protective order.
They also stated that they had asked Smith's team on Friday to meet on Monday, to allow time to discuss the request with Trump before it was filed by prosecutors.
The Urgency of the Situation
Prosecutor David Harbach emphasized the urgency of the situation in an email to the defense, stating that Trump created circumstances requiring an immediate request for relief that couldn’t wait until after the weekend.
In their late Friday filing, prosecutors informed the judge that while Trump's lawyers did not see any "imminent danger," Trump had continued to make false statements that "smeared and endangered the agents who executed the search."
Trump’s Campaign Response
Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump's campaign, stated on Tuesday that "the entire documents case was a political sham from the very beginning and it should be thrown out entirely."
Multiple Legal Challenges
This case is one of four criminal cases Trump faces as he aims to return to the White House. Outside of the ongoing New York hush money case, it is uncertain if any of the other three will go to trial before the November election.
Trump has already been restricted in his speech in two other cases due to incendiary comments that officials say threaten the integrity of the prosecutions. In the New York case, Trump has been fined and threatened with jail time for repeatedly violating a gag order preventing him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors, and others involved.
He is also under a gag order in his federal criminal election interference case in Washington, which limits what he can say about witnesses, lawyers, and court staff. However, an appeals court has allowed him to speak about special counsel Smith, who brought the case.
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