(NationalUSNews.com) — On Friday, May 24, Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office filed a gag order motion against former President Trump in regard to his Florida trial regarding the alleged mishandling of classified documents. Florida federal judge Aileen Cannon denied the motion, and now Trump’s lawyers are calling for her to impose sanctions on Smith’s office. They are also requesting that all government attorneys who participated in the decision to file the motion be held in “civil contempt.” Civil contempt is not a criminal offense and is used to force compliance in legal cases.
Smith’s office originally requested the gag order in response to an inflammatory post Trump posted on his own social media platform, Truth Social. The former president was apparently shown the FBI warrant for the August 22 raid on his home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. The warrant indicated that the FBI were authorized to use deadly force, if necessary, in the performance of their duties. In his post on Truth Social, Trump characterized the warrant as a sign that President Biden is unfit for office. While he made no reference to assassination plots, others, such as Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, have made remarks to that effect.
On Monday, May 27, two of Trump’s lawyers, Chris Kise and Todd Blanche, accused Smith and the other prosecutors of attempting to infringe on former President Trump’s free speech. They also claim that Smith’s office did not follow proper procedure and should have conferred with Trump’s legal team before filing the motion in the first place. Further, they accuse Smith of attempting to limit Trump’s campaign speech in an attempt to interfere with the election. Their rebuttal also calls the requested gag order unconstitutional, referring to Smith and his associates as the “thought police.”
Former President Trump is already under a gag order issued by New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan in connection with his Manhattan hush money case. He is forbidden to comment on witnesses, prosecutors, jurors, or any members of their families. Merchan’s gag order is allegedly to protect everyone involved in the case from being endangered by Trump’s sometimes inflammatory remarks.
Smith and his team claim that they requested a gag order in the Florida case to protect FBI agents and their families from fallout that may result from the former president making comments about the raid. The first amendment to the U.S. constitution makes it illegal to infringe on free speech regardless of the content, viewpoint, or even the identity of the speaker. However, the judges involved in these two different cases clearly see free speech and its dangers differently.
Copyright 2024, NationalUSNews.com
