Special counsel adds to Trump gag order request, citing threats against FBI agent associated with Hunter Biden case
Former President Donald Trump's attorneys have called the proposed gag order a direct attack on his First Amendment rights.
By Holmes Lybrand, CNN
(CNN) — Prosecutors on the federal classified documents case, in stark and terse terms, put forward once again their case for a new gag order against Donald Trump in an effort to limit what he can say about agents involved in a search of Mar-a-Lago in 2022.
On Monday, the federal judge overseeing the case will hold a hearing for both parties to present their arguments over the proposed gag order, and tensions between the two sides could quickly rise.
Citing Trump’s continued mischaracterization of the FBI’s policy in place around the use of deadly force during the search, prosecutors say Trump’s false claims that he nearly escaped death from federal agents could lead to threats and harassment against them.
Trump was in New York when agents searched the Florida estate.
To support this concern, prosecutors, in a filing Friday evening, cited two examples of the type of threats and violence they believe could result from Trump’s comments.
“Shortly after the execution of the search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, one of Trump’s supporters carried out an armed attack on an FBI office in the wake of Trump’s Truth Social statements regarding the search,” prosecutors wrote. “And just last week, a supporter of Trump called an FBI agent associated with the Hunter Biden case and claimed that, if Trump wins reelection, FBI agents will be thrown in jail; and if he does not win, the agents will be ‘hunt[ed] down’ and ‘slaughter[ed]’ In their own homes, after which ‘[w]e’re going to slaughter your whole f****** family.’”
Trump’s attorneys have called the proposed gag order a direct attack on Trump’s First Amendment rights and say prosecutors have not given an example of agents being harassed as a result of his recent comments.
In their response on Friday, prosecutors wrote that “while Trump boastfully acknowledges the impact that his words have on his listeners, he will just as predictably decline any responsibility for their actions should any further violence take place. Neither the Government nor the Court has that luxury.”
Prosecutors also addressed a defense attorney’s claim that special counsel Jack Smith was trying to thwart Trump’s ability to campaign in the lead up to the November election.
“(T)he Government has absolutely no interest in those matters. None,” prosecutors wrote.
They added: “Indeed, Trump has released a torrent of criticisms of the Biden Administration and the Department of Justice, and the Government has made no motion to this Court to limit or address such comments in any way. Trump is welcome to make such comments to his heart’s content — they are simply not the Government’s concern.”
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