Former President Donald Trump's lawyers are fighting back against special counsel Jack Smith's attempts to place new restrictions on what Trump can say in his classified documents case, the Washington Examiner reported.
Trump's lawyers and federal prosecutors will face off in court Monday to fight what Trump's team said is a gag order that limits his speech as he campaigns for reelection, according to the Examiner.
Last month, Smith told Judge Aileen Cannon, who is overseeing the case, that Trump falsely claimed federal agents were complicit in a plot to assassinate him when they executed an armed search warrant on Mar-a-Lago in August 2022. The FBI said the authorization to use deadly lethal force was standard procedure.
"A condition of release that prohibits the defendant from making statements posing a significant, imminent, and foreseeable danger to law enforcement agents participating in the investigation and prosecution of this case is warranted and necessary here," Smith's team wrote in the motion.
Trump's legal team filed its own motion, arguing that Smith "seeks to restrict President Donald Trump's campaign speech as the first presidential debate approaches at the end of this month."
The former president will debate President Joe Biden on June 27.
Trump was charged with illegally hoarding classified documents from his presidency and conspiring with valet Waltine Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira to hide the files from the government. Trump pleaded not guilty to all 37 counts.
Cannon has also scheduled oral arguments over Trump's lawyers that Smith was improperly appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland. Lawyers for both camps are also sparring over Trump's challenge to the federal funding of Smith's office and Trump's request to toss evidence gathered during the FBI raid.
Trump remains under a gag order in his Manhattan criminal trial, where he was convicted of 34 felony charges in a scheme to allegedly influence the 2016 election by calling a payment to lawyer Michael Cohen a "legal expense."
The trial and subsequent conviction marked the first time a former president has been tried or convicted in a criminal case.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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