Trump Attorneys Urge Judge to Reject Special Counsel Smith’s Request for Gag Order

Former President Donald Trump’s attorneys responded to special counsel Jack Smith’s gag order request in his classified documents case by asking a federal judge to reject the prosecutors’ claims.

The attorneys wrote in a June 14 court filing to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon that the gag order request in the Florida case is a “shocking display of overreach” and is “unconstitutional,” adding that prosecutors haven’t submitted evidence of alleged threats or harassment that resulted from the 45th president’s comments on the case.

“Not a single FBI agent who participated in the raid submitted an affidavit, or even an argument, claiming that President Trump’s remarks put them at risk,” the former president’s attorneys wrote.

The gag order request, they added, should be blocked by the judge because it has “ambiguities,” a “lack of enforcement criteria,” and a “chilling effect” on free speech.

Former President Trump’s lawyers also argued that it would violate his right to “core political speech,” a claim similar to that made by his attorneys in his New York criminal trial after the presiding judge, Justice Juan Merchan, initiated a gag order that prohibited the former president from commenting on certain individuals connected to the case.

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