Current:Home > MyJudge nixes bid to restrict Trump statements that could endanger officers in classified records case -Quantum Capital Pro
Judge nixes bid to restrict Trump statements that could endanger officers in classified records case
View
Date:2025-04-13 15:27:02
WASHINGTON (AP) — The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s classified documents case in Florida on Tuesday denied prosecutors’ request to bar the former president from making public statements that could endanger law enforcement agents participating in the prosecution.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon said in her order that prosecutors on special counsel Jack Smith’s team didn’t give defense lawyers adequate time to discuss the request before it was filed Friday evening. She denied the request without prejudice, meaning prosecutors could file it again.
The request followed a distorted claim by Trump last week that the FBI agents who searched his Mar-a-Lago estate in August 2022 were “authorized to shoot me” and were “locked & loaded ready to take me out & put my family in danger.”
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee was referring to the disclosure in a court document that the FBI, during the search in Palm Beach, Florida, followed a standard use-of-force policy that prohibits the use of deadly force except when the officer conducting the search has a reasonable belief that the “subject of such force poses an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to the officer or to another person.”
Prosecutors said in court papers late Friday that Trump’s statements falsely suggesting that federal agents “were complicit in a plot to assassinate him” expose law enforcement officers — some of whom prosecutors noted will be called as witnesses at his trial — “to the risk of threats, violence, and harassment.”
Defense attorneys in a court filing late Monday called prosecutors’ proposed restriction on Trump’s speech “unconstitutional” and noted that the names of law enforcement officers in the case are subject to a protective order preventing their public release. Defense attorneys said they asked Smith’s team on Friday if the two sides could meet on Monday before prosecutors submit their request to give the defense time to discuss it with Trump. They called prosecutors’ decision to file the motion Friday night “bad-faith behavior, plain and simple.”
Trump faces dozens of felony counts accusing him of illegally hoarding at his Mar-a-Lago estate classified documents that he took with him after he left the White House in 2021 and then obstructing the FBI’s efforts to get them back. He has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.
It’s among four criminal cases Trump is confronting as he seeks to reclaim the White House, but outside of the ongoing New York hush money prosecution, it’s unclear that any of the other three will reach trial before the November election. The decision came as defense lawyers were delivering their closing arguments in the hush money case.
Trump has already had restrictions placed on his speech in two of the other cases over incendiary comments officials say threaten the integrity of the prosecutions.
In the New York case, Trump has been fined and threatened with jail time for repeatedly violating a gag order that bars him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and some others connected to the matter.
veryGood! (955)
Related
- How to watch new prequel series 'Dexter: Original Sin': Premiere date, cast, streaming
- Walmart layoffs: Retailer cuts hundreds of corporate jobs, seeks return to office
- Dan Schneider Reacts After All That's Lori Beth Denberg Says He Preyed On Her
- Mississippi man suspected of killing mother, 2 sisters is fatally shot by state troopers in Arizona
- The FTC says 'gamified' online job scams by WhatsApp and text on the rise. What to know.
- Fed’s Powell downplays potential for a rate hike despite higher price pressures
- Trophy Eyes fan injured after stage-diving accident: 'Truly heartbroken'
- Preakness 2024 odds, post positions and how to watch second leg of Triple Crown
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- Bradley Cooper shares rare red carpet moment with daughter Lea at 'IF' premiere: Watch
Ranking
- US appeals court rejects Nasdaq’s diversity rules for company boards
- As Melinda French Gates leaves the Gates Foundation, many hope she’ll double down on gender equity
- Sarah Paulson says living separately from girlfriend Holland Taylor is 'secret' to relationship
- Google’s unleashes AI in search, raising hopes for better results and fears about less web traffic
- Intel's stock did something it hasn't done since 2022
- Seattle Times publisher Frank Blethen to step down after 4 decades in charge of family-owned paper
- At least 1 dead after severe storms roll through Louisiana, other southern states
- Man gets over three years in prison for posting video threatening school shooting in New Hampshire
Recommendation
Intellectuals vs. The Internet
Baby Reindeer's Richard Gadd Reveals What He Won't Comment on Ever Again
Verdict in for wildlife mystery in Nevada where DNA tests show suspected wolves were coyotes
9-1-1 Crew Member Rico Priem Dies in Car Accident After 14-Hour Overnight Shift
SFO's new sensory room helps neurodivergent travelers fight flying jitters
Danish butter magnate Lars Emil Bruun's vast coin collection hitting auction block 100 years after he died
Harry and Meghan wrap up a very royal looking tour of Nigeria
Ali Wong Reveals Bill Hader’s Grand Gesture to Get Her to Date Him