The federal judge presiding over former President Donald Trump’s criminal case in Washington, D.C., over his alleged interference into the 2020 election has denied the Trump team’s request for a motion to delay their response to a protective order, requested by the Justice Department.
This follows a motion filed by Trump’s legal team to grant it a three-day extension until Thursday to argue against a legal motion that would block the former president from sharing details of evidence from his Jan. 6 criminal case proceedings.
TRUMP BLASTS DOJ PROTECTIVE ORDER FOR TARGETING HIS RIGHT TO ‘POLITICAL SPEECH’
This latest order came in response to a court filing by the DOJ Friday, which made mention to a post by Trump to his social mediia platform, Truth Social, which prosecutors claimed raise concerns that the former president may improperly share details about his latest criminal proceedings.
The protective order request from the DOJ, followed a Truth Social post by Trump to his account, appears to warn: “If you go after me, I’m coming after you!”
This stymied fear among prosecutors of Trump’s possible sharing of evidence from special counsel Jack Smith’s criminal case detailing his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The decision from US District Judge Tanya Chutkan puts to bed the Trump team’s request to argue against the DOJ’s argument that the former president has a habit of speaking publicly about the details of his various legal proceedings.
In the filing, prosecutors pressed Chutkan to issue an order prohibiting any findings related to the case be kept from public view.
The filing did not explicitly request a gag order against Trump, but prosecutors noted they are set to share a “substantial” amount of evidence with Trump’s team, which they are trying to keep out of public view while criminal proceedings play out.
Trump’s team previously decried the DOJ’s efforts, arguing the social media post fell under his First Amendment rights to share his opinion online.
“The Truth post cited is the definition of political speech, and was in response to the RINO, China-loving, dishonest special interest groups and Super PACs, like the ones funded by the Koch brothers and the Club for No Growth,” a Trump spokesperson said in a statement.
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The filing comes days after Trump traveled to Washington, D.C., to face arraignment on four federal charges, including one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, one count of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, one count of obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and one count of conspiracy against rights.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and his next court date is slated for Aug. 28, where his trial date in this court case is slated to be set.
