Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers slammed prosecutors’ request for a gag order as an unconstitutional effort to silence “the leading contender in the 2024 Presidential Election.”
Special Counsel Jack Smith requested a “narrow” gag order on Sept. 15 barring Trump from making “disparaging and inflammatory, or intimidating” statements about parties, witnesses, court personnel and potential jurors connected to his 2020 election case. Trump’s lawyers painted the request as a ploy to censor political opposition, highlighting in a Monday night court filing that it came “on the heels of adverse polling for President Biden.”
“His administration’s plan is quite simple: unleash a 45-page speaking indictment, discuss and leak its talking points in the press, and then cynically attempt to invoke the Court’s authority to prevent President Trump and those acting on his behalf from presenting his side of the story to the American people during a political campaign,” Trump’s lawyers wrote, urging U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to deny the request. “This desperate effort at censorship is unconstitutional on its face.” (RELATED: Trump’s Lawyers Argue Judge’s Failure To Recuse Will Cause ‘Irreparable Damage’ To Judicial System For ‘Generations’)
A Washington Post-ABC poll released Sunday— which the Washington Post concluded was “probably an outlier” — showed Trump leading Biden in a general election matchup 52% to 42%.
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 15: Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at the Pray Vote Stand Summit at the Omni Shoreham Hotel on September 15, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Trump’s lawyers argued that prosecutors failed to point to one aspect of the proceeding that has been impaired as a result of Trump’s social media posts, according to the court filing. They also said that prosecutors cannot reasonably argue Trump’s statements will prejudice the jury pool when District of Columbia citizens voted for Biden by a nearly 95% margin in 2020.
“If the prosecution wishes to avoid criticism for abusing its power, the solution is simple: stop abusing its power,” lawyers wrote. “The Constitution allows no alternative.”
Trump’s lawyers previously asked Chutkan to recuse herself from the case over statements she made in sentencing hearings of other Jan. 6 defendants, which they believe demonstrate she prejudged his case.
The trial date for the case on Trump’s alleged interference in the 2020 election is set for March 4, 2024, the day before Super Tuesday.
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