In an order issued Tuesday, Florida Judge Aileen Cannon rejected Special Counsel Jack Smith’s motion to impose a gag order on certain public statements by former President Donald Trump.
The federal judge overseeing special counsel Jack Smith’s classified documents case against former President Donald Trump denied that the court on certain public statements that they argued posed a danger to law enforcement.
In an order issued Tuesday, rejected Smith’s motion that she alter Trump’s conditions of pretrial release to prohibit him from making comments „similar“ to those he has issued in recent weeks in which Smith alleged Trump „endangered law enforcement officers involved in the investigation and prosecution of this case and threatened the integrity of these proceedings.“
Cannon’s short ruling said she was denying the Justice Department’s motion „without prejudice,“ meaning Smith could potentially file another motion. The judge took issue with the special counsel’s handling of the request and wrote that prosecutors did not meaningfully confer with Trump’s defense team before filing the motion, as required by local rules.
The special counsel filed his motion on Friday evening after Trump’s attorneys said they had asked him to hold off so the parties could discuss the matter on Monday. Cannon wrote that prosecutors‘ handling of the procedure was „wholly lacking in substance and professional courtesy.“
The move by federal prosecutors to limit Trump’s public comments came after the former president made false claims that FBI agents were „authorized to shoot“ him as they executed a court-authorized search warrant at his Mar-a-Lago residence in August 2022.
