It has come to light via Media Ite that Jack Smith, the special counsel prosecuting former President Donald Trump, asked U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan to place a “narrow” limit on what Trump can say publicly over concerns of witness intimidation, a new court filing unsealed Friday revealed.
“The defendant has an established practice of issuing inflammatory public statements targeted at individuals or institutions that present an obstacle or challenge to him,” Smith wrote in the filing making clear he believes Trump has launched a campaign to discredit the entire justice system ahead of his trial.
Trump has been charged in Washington, DC on four felony counts related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Politico’s Kyle Cheney noted that Chutkan summed up Smith’s motion in the unsealed document, writing, “The government seeks to establish that Defendant has publicly criticized his perceived adversaries and is aware that this criticism has led to their harassment.” Cheney also noted that “witnesses testified about harassment” they have received.
Trump’s social media posts have long targeted federal law enforcement, the FBI and DOJ, as well as judges assigned to his cases and speculation regarding a gag order has run rampant for months. NBC News highlighted some of Trump’s past statements, noting:
“The government said Trump “made clear his intent to issue public attacks related to this case when, the day after his arraignment, he posted a threatening message on Truth Social.”
Trump’s Aug. 4 post read: “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!”
Trump, the office wrote, “has made good on his threat,” spreading “disparaging and inflammatory public posts on Truth Social on a near-daily basis regarding the citizens of the District of Columbia, the Court, prosecutors, and prospective witnesses.”
