Special counsel Jack Smith has asked the judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s case in Florida to ban him from making statements that endanger law enforcement.
The filing marks Smith’s second motion in days of pushing before the U.S. District Judge Aileen Kanon to change Trump’s release conditions in the case. And like the previous motion, Friday’s motion was based on Trump’s false claims that FBI agents were prepared to kill him during the 2022 Mar-a-Lago search for classified documents.
“Trump’s repeated mischaracterization of these facts in widespread reports as an attempt to assassinate him, his family and Secret Service agents has compromised law enforcement officials involved in the investigation and prosecution of this case and the integrity of this procedure threatened,” Smith said. in the submission.
Trump’s campaign had claimed as much in a fundraising email President Joe Biden was “locked and loaded, ready to take me out,” comments that echoed similar statements made by the former president about FBI agents.
Trump was not in Florida at the time of the raid, and the FBI has said the authorization he apparently referred to is typical language limiting the use of force.
The policy prohibits deadly force except “when the officer reasonably believes that the subject of such force poses an imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury to the officer or to another person,” Friday’s motion said.
“However, Trump has grossly distorted these standard practices by falsely characterizing them as a plan to kill him, his family, and U.S. Secret Service agents,” Smith said in the motion. “These deceptive and inflammatory claims have irresponsibly placed a target on the backs of the FBI agents involved in this case, as Trump well knows.”
Smith’s earlier motion on the issue was denied Tuesday as Cannon argued that the special counsel’s efforts to discuss the issue with Trump’s defense team were “completely lacking in substance and professional courtesy.” Trump’s lawyers had argued that prosecutors breached procedure by not consulting the defense before filing the request.
However, Friday’s motion included a certificate confirming that prosecutors had consulted with the defense on the motion via a phone call on Wednesday, and via emails on Thursday and Friday.
Trump’s lawyers requested that their statement be included with the certificate confirming that Trump “opposes the motion.”
“On the merits of the case, President Trump’s position is that the requested amendment is a blatant violation of the First Amendment rights of President Trump and the American people, effectively causing President Trump’s political opponent to suspend his campaign communications to voters in could regulate the entire country. Trump’s team said.
Prosecutors addressed the First Amendment issue in their motion, arguing that their request did not violate the amendment, pointing to the conditions of pretrial release, which often include measures restricting certain actions and expressions.
Smith’s request reflects the silence order imposed on Trump in the corporate data falsification case. Judge Juan Merchan has issued a gag order, preventing Trump from attacking jurors and witnesses. Trump was fined thousands of dollars for violating the gag order multiple times.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
