Washington. US prosecutors have asked a judge to limit the information that Donald Trump can disclose about the recent accusations against him for allegedly trying to interfere in the 2020 elections, citing a threatening post by the former president, which he shared on social media saying: “! If you go for me, I’ll go for you!”, after he swore in court that he would not try to intimidate witnesses.
The Truth Social post raised concerns that the mogul could reveal secret material, such as grand jury transcripts. The Justice Department is required to provide defendants with the evidence against them to prepare their defense.
For this reason, the office of Jack Smith, the special prosecutor overseeing this case against Trump, asked District Judge Tanya Chutkan to impose a protection order to prevent the former president from revealing details about the case.
“What the proposed order seeks to prevent is the improper disclosure or use of the discovered evidence, including its release to the public,” Smith and his team wrote in the formal motion before the court.
“Such a restriction is particularly important in this case because the defendant has issued public statements on social networks regarding witnesses, judges, lawyers and others associated with pending legal matters against him,” commented the togados, who presented a screenshot of the message. of Trump as evidence.
If the defendant released details or grand jury transcripts obtained during the trial “it could have a detrimental and frightening effect on witnesses or adversely affect the impartial administration of justice in this case,” they added.
In his appearance last Thursday, in which the charges for his actions to interfere in the past US elections were read, Trump vowed not to intimidate witnesses or communicate with them without the presence of a lawyer.
Judge Chutkan gave the president’s legal team until 5:00 p.m. (local) tomorrow to respond to the government’s request. The defense, which indicated that it will seek to delay the case given the prosecutors’ commitment to a speedy trial, later requested that the deadline to respond and hold a hearing be extended to Thursday, because it needs more time to examine the matter.
Last night, the magistrate rejected the request for an extension and reiterated that the lawyers must abide by the deadline set for tomorrow.
Protection orders are routine in cases involving confidential documents, but prosecutors said it was particularly important to restrict public disclosure given the defendant’s statements on social media.
Favorite for the Republican nomination in view of the 2024 presidential elections, the former ruler pleaded not guilty to the four charges of electoral conspiracy and obstruction, the most serious of the multiple cases he faces.
The pool of potential witnesses in the case is very broad. Legislative hearings on the insurrection on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021 could be a preview: Those interviews covered more than 1,000 people, including her children Ivanka and Donald, other family members and her closest advisers. Trump’s campaign justified the former president yesterday: “Truth’s quoted post is typical political speech,” a spokesman said in a statement, suggesting that the 77-year-old magnate was referring to his political opponents and not someone involved in the case.
Hours before, his proselytizing team published a message on the social network X in which he called the prosecutors in charge of the multiple cases facing the former president as “the fraud squad.”
The day before yesterday in Alabama, Trump appeared before his supporters and described the accusations against him as “an act of desperation by a failed, dishonorable and crooked Joe Biden and his radical leftist thugs to preserve their grip on power.
“Every time they file an indictment, we go up a lot in the polls. We need one more indictment to successfully conclude the elections.
“One more accusation and these elections are won. Nobody even stands a chance,” she boasted.
The White House stressed that the Department of Justice operates independently and that President Biden’s partisan and government teams have no involvement in the cases against his predecessor.
