Special Counsel Jack Smith on Friday asked the judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s confidential documents case in Florida to stop him from making statements that endanger law enforcement.
The request marks Smith’s second motion in days asking U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to modify Trump’s release conditions in the case. And like the previous motion, Friday’s motion was based on Trump’s false claims about FBI agents being prepared to kill him during the search for classified documents at Mar-a-Lago in 2022.
“Trump’s repeated mischaracterization of these facts in widely distributed messages as an attempt to kill him, his family and Secret Service agents has endangered law enforcement officials involved in the investigation and prosecution of this case and threatened the integrity of these proceedings.” , said Smith. in the archive.
The Trump campaign claimed in a fundraising email that President Joe Biden was “armed and ready to eliminate me,” comments that echoed similar statements the former president made about FBI agents.
Trump was not in Florida at the time of the raid, and the FBI said the authorization he apparently referred to is typical language limiting the use of force.
The policy prohibits deadly force except “when the officer has a reasonable belief that the object of such force poses an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to the officer or another person,” Friday’s motion explained.
“Trump, however, has grossly distorted these standard practices, mischaracterizing them as a plot to kill him, his family and U.S. Secret Service agents,” Smith said in the motion. “These misleading and inflammatory claims irresponsibly placed a target on the backs of the FBI agents involved in this case, as Trump well knows.”
Smith’s previous motion on the issue was denied on Tuesday because Cannon argued that the special counsel’s efforts to discuss the issue with Trump’s defense team were “utterly devoid of substance and professional courtesy.” Trump’s lawyers argued that by not consulting the defense before filing the motion, prosecutors violated procedure.
Friday’s motion, however, included a certificate confirming that prosecutors spoke with the defense about the motion through a phone call on Wednesday, as well as emails on Thursday and Friday.
Trump’s lawyers requested that the certificate include their statement, in which they confirm that Trump “opposes the motion.”
“On the merits, President Trump’s position is that the requested modification is a flagrant violation of the First Amendment rights of President Trump and the American people, which would, in effect, allow President Trump’s political adversary to regulate his campaign communications to voters across the country,” Trump’s team said.
Prosecutors addressed the First Amendment issue in their motion, arguing that their request did not conflict with the amendment, pointing to conditions of pretrial release, often including measures that restrict certain actions and speech.
Smith’s request echoes the gag order imposed on Trump in the falsified business records case. Judge Juan Merchan imposed a gag order, which prevents Trump from attacking jurors and witnesses. Trump was fined thousands of dollars for violating the gag order multiple times.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
