Lawyers for Donald Trump have opposed a request from the U.S. Justice Department to limit what the former president shares publicly related to the 2020 election case.
In a filing, they say the request for a protective order violates Trump’s First Amendment rights.
The legal team of thrice-indicted and twice-impeached former president and current presidential candidate had until 5 p.m. ET on Monday to respond to the request.
Trump’s lawyers on Monday urged a Washington, D.C. federal judge to only restrict “genuinely sensitive materials” in the former president’s 2020 election case from being released to the public ahead of trial.
“In a trial about First Amendment rights, the government seeks to restrict First Amendment rights,” Trump’s attorneys said in court papers filed on Monday, referring to the right of free speech guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
Special counsel Jack Smith, who brought four criminal charges against Trump last week, asked U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan to impose a court order to “protect a large amount sensitive and confidential material” that Trump’s team would receive as part of the trial so that the former president can’t publish it and potentially affect the outcome, according to court documents.
Smith’s request mentions Trump’s history of posting about judges, witnesses and legal matters against him. It also includes a photo of a statement Trump posted just hours earlier on the social media site Truth Social where Trump, in all caps, said, “if you go after me, I’m coming after you!”
“If the defendant were to begin issuing public posts using details,” the filing states, “or, for example, grand jury transcripts … it would have a harmful chilling effect on witnesses or adversely affect the fair administration of justice in this case.”
Smith brought four charges against Trump on Aug. 1, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S., to obstruct an official proceeding, and to deprive citizens of their voting rights over the then-president’s actions during the Jan. 6, 2021 Capital Riot.
Smith is also prosecuting Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents, including top-secret information.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Trump’s lawyer John Lauro told American Sunday morning news shows the former president was asking officials to undertake illegal acts, not telling them to do so.
“Every single thing that President Trump is being prosecuted for involved aspirational asks — asking state legislatures, asking state governors, asking state electoral officials to do the right thing. In fact, even asking Vice President Pence was protected by free speech,” Lauro told Fox News.
Pence, who is also seeking the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election, told CNN Trump was wrong to try to overturn the 2020 election.
Lauro also told “Fox News Sunday” that having the protective order in place would “deny all Americans the opportunity to learn non-sensitive information” about the case and would prevent the press from “obtaining exculpatory and material information that might be relevant to these proceedings.”
Trump is the frontrunner in the race for the Republican nomination for the 2024 general election.
His legal team had asked Judge Chutkan, who has been one of the toughest punishers of those who stormed the U.S. Capital buildings in 2021, to extend the deadline. She denied the request.
— with files from Reuters’ Susan Heavy and Kanishka Singh