The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s 2020 election trial has denied the Department of Justice’s request to issue a protective order preventing the former president from publicly sharing details about his case.
While Judge Tanya Chutkan dismissed the DOJ’s request, she did award prosecutors a small win in prohibiting Trump from sharing material deemed “sensitive.”
“The defendant has the right to free speech, but that right is not absolute,” Chutkan said during a hearing on Friday morning. “Without a protective order, a party could release that info to the jury pool.”
Thomas Windom, a prosecutor with the DOJ, disagreed with the ruling. ‘The defendant [Trump] has set forth an intention to set forth any information that they deem informative,” he told the judge during the hearing.
The “Defense has broadcast their strategy, and that is not to try this case in this courtroom, and your honor should address that,” he said.
Chutkan was sympathetic and said it was a “close” call, however, she demurred from fully enforcing an expansive protective order.
“The defendant’s desire to respond to political opponents has to yield,” the judge clarified. “There are limits. This is a criminal case. The need for this case to proceed in a normal order means there are going to be limits on the defendant’s speech.”
Despite pushback from the ex-president’s attorney John Lauro about the limited protective order’s impact on Trump’s ongoing aspiration for the Republican nomination, Chutkan was unmoved.
“I cannot and will not factor into my decisions the effect it will have on a campaign for either side,” the judge maintained.
Last Friday, special counsel Jack Smith asked Chutkan to curtail Trump’s ability to share information about his case in the District of Columbia centering on the former president’s alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
“If the defendant were to begin issuing public posts using details — or, for example, grand jury transcripts — obtained in discovery here, it could have a harmful chilling effect on witnesses or adversely affect the fair administration of justice in this case,” Smith wrote in a court filing at the time.
The request came after the former president posted on his social-media platform, Truth Social: “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!”
Last Tuesday, Trump was indicted on four counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempting to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
“Despite having lost, the Defendant was determined to remain in power. So for more than two months following election day on November 3, 2020, the Defendant spread lies that there had been outcome-determinative fraud in the election and that he had actually won. These claims were false, and the Defendant knew that they were false,” one section of the 45-page indictment reads.
“The attack on our nation’s capitol on January 6, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy,” Smith said during a news conference following the announcement. “As described in the indictment, it was fueled by lies.”
“My office will seek a speedy trial so our evidence can be tested in court and judged by a jury of citizens.”