On Monday, former President Donald Trump submitted a court motion requesting the judge in his classified documents case to reject special counsel Jack Smith’s call for a gag order.
Additionally, Trump asked for sanctions to be imposed on the special counsel and all government attorneys involved in the decision to file what he described as an “unconstitutional” request to silence him.
In a motion filed in a Florida court on May 27, former President Trump’s attorneys opposed special counsel Jack Smith’s recent request for Judge Aileen Cannon to impose a gag order on Trump.
Smith’s request cited potential danger to law enforcement following Trump’s critical remarks about the “deadly force” authorization for the 2022 FBI raid on his Mar-a-Lago property.
After an operations plan for the Mar-a-Lago raid revealed that FBI agents were instructed to be prepared to “engage with” President Trump and his Secret Service agents during the search, Trump’s campaign claimed that the Department of Justice (DOJ) was “locked and loaded” and ready to kill the former president.
This claim stemmed from the FBI’s authorization to use “deadly force” during the raid, as outlined in a statement on the document referencing standard government policy for such law enforcement actions.
In response to the Trump campaign’s remarks, special counsel Jack Smith’s team filed for a gag order. Trump’s attorneys objected to this request, arguing that it was based on procedural violations.
They cited a lack of meaningful consultation with the defense and insufficient evidence of the alleged safety risks the gag order was intended to address. In their filing, former President Trump’s attorneys argued that special counsel Jack Smith and his team “improperly” requested a gag order without first consulting the defense.
They described the request as an “extraordinary, unprecedented, and unconstitutional censorship application.” Additionally, they accused the special counsel and his team of failing to provide any direct evidence of the claimed safety risks to law enforcement agents. “There was no basis for rushing to file the Motion on Friday night,” they wrote. “This is bad-faith behavior, plain and simple.”
President Trump’s attorneys are requesting that the judge find all government attorneys involved in filing the gag order request in civil contempt. They are also asking for sanctions to be imposed on these attorneys following an evidentiary hearing.
A spokesperson for Jack Smith’s office declined to comment on the motion. However, filings by President Trump’s attorneys reveal that they informed the special counsel of their intention to file the opposing motion. Smith’s office indicated that they oppose the relief being sought by Trump’s legal team.
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