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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office is seeking a protective order against former President Donald Trump that would limit what he is allowed to say online about the cases against him.
The evidence used by federal prosecutors in the case is a post made on Friday by the former president on his Truth Social account in which he said, “IF YOU COME AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!”
“All the proposed order seeks to prevent is the improper dissemination or use of discovery materials, including to the public,” prosecutors said in the motion, NBC Newes reported. “Such a restriction is particularly important in this case because the defendant has previously issued public statements on social media regarding witnesses, judges, attorneys, and others associated with legal matters pending against him.”
The former president shared a statement on Trith Social in response to the filing from Smith’s office.
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“The Truth post cited is the definition of political speech, and was in response to the RINO, China-loving, dishonest special interest groups and Super PACs, like the ones funded by the Koch brothers and the Club for No Growth,” it said.
Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team has admitted to incorrectly stating they turned over evidence as required by law in the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump.
Prosecutors discovered that video used as evidence “had not been processed and uploaded to the platform established for the defense to view” when they were getting ready to indict Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira last week for allegedly conspiring with Trump to delete surveillance footage from the estate, Smith’s team wrote in a filing.
“The Government’s representation at the July 18 hearing that all surveillance footage the Government had obtained pre-indictment had been produced was therefore incorrect,” the prosecutors added.
“All CCTV footage obtained by the government has now been given to the defendants, according to Smith’s team. The so-called Brady rule requires prosecutors to disclose all evidence and information favorable to the defendant,” Just The News reported.
Following his third arrest and court arraignment in four months, Trump entered a not-guilty plea on Thursday to allegations that he attempted to rig the 2020 election.
A glum-faced At around 4 p.m., Trump appeared in court to be arraigned while dressed in a navy blue suit, a red tie, and a white shirt. He sat between his attorneys Todd Blanche and John Lauro with his hands folded on the table in front of him and his head bowed.
Before boarding his Boeing 757, Trump told reporters the legal process is unfair.
“This is a very sad day for America,” he said before leaving Reagan National Airport for New Jersey. Trump called the case the “persecution of a political opponent. This was never supposed to happen in America.”
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Before his court appearance, Trump issued a scathing response to Smith’s filing of additional charges against him in his classified documents case, while also indicting a third person within Trump’s orbit in the process.
Last week, Smith filed a superseding indictment against Trump, which included new charges related to the willful retention of national defense information and obstruction. The prosecutors alleged that Trump and his aides were involved in instructing a staff member at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida to delete security camera footage deliberately. Smith alleged the action was taken with the intention of preventing the presentation of evidence to a federal grand jury.
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Trump, however, denied the allegations categorically and said he ensured his legal team handed over any and all requested security footage unaltered.
“Mar-a-Lago security tapes were not deleted,” Trump wrote on TRUTH Social.
“They were voluntarily handed over to the thugs, headed up by deranged Jack Smith. We did not even go to court to stop them from getting these tapes. I never told anybody to delete them. Prosecutorial fiction & misconduct! Election interference!” he said.
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