- June 25, 2024
‘Requires finding’: Judge talks tough on plea seeking gag order against Trump in secret document case – Times of India
A Flordia court judge snubbed prosecutors seeking to frame former US President Donald Trump over his repeated comments on FBI, which the lawyers said had led to a threat against law enforcement officers.
During the hearing in the classified document case, Jack Smith‘s special counsel argued that Trump’s comments mandated a gag order as he “repeatedly and misleadingly” alleged that FIB agents who searched his Flordia estate Mar-a-Lago had orders to murder him.
Judge Aileen Cannon didn’t appear to take the prosecutors’ argument at face value as she asked them to show any facts linking what Trump said and the threats the prosecutors warned about.
The judge noted that the rules cited by the prosecutors to seek a gag order “still requires a finding” related to the potential risks to others. However, she held that prosecutors didn’t need a direct cause.
“There still needs to be a factual connection between A and B,” Cannon was quoted as saying by CNN.
Prosecutor David Harbach further argued that Trump’s other comments “ultimately result in all types of terrible things”.
Batting for the safety of FBI agents involved in the case, David said there should be a cap on Trump’s campaign.
‘Attacks are against Biden’
Defending Trump over his comments, his attorney Todd Blanche said there were no threats to FBI agents as cited by the prosecutors and argued that the government was trying to punish Trump for other people’s remarks.
“The attacks, very clearly, are against President Biden,” Blanche was quoted as saying by CNN.
Blanche also acknowledged that the Department of Justice’s “deadly force” policy during the Mar-a-Lago search was standard for executing search warrants but argued that it may not have been appropriate for agents to be armed.
The defense attorney also expressed concern that prosecutors are setting a “dangerous precedent” by attempting to alter the former president’s conditions of release.
He stated that prosecutors are too vaguely defining what constitutes a threat, which complicates adherence to potential new rules and risks making him liable for others’ comments.
“Steve Bannon making a comment is potentially the kind of thing that could send President Trump to jail,” Blanche said on CNN.
Trump faces dozens of felony counts accusing him of illegally hoarding at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, classified documents that he took with him after he left the White House in 2021, and then obstructing the FBI’s efforts to get them back. He has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.
Trump faces four criminal cases as he seeks to reclaim the White House, but outside of the ongoing New York hush money prosecution, it’s not clear that any of the other three will reach trial before the election.
During the hearing in the classified document case, Jack Smith‘s special counsel argued that Trump’s comments mandated a gag order as he “repeatedly and misleadingly” alleged that FIB agents who searched his Flordia estate Mar-a-Lago had orders to murder him.
Judge Aileen Cannon didn’t appear to take the prosecutors’ argument at face value as she asked them to show any facts linking what Trump said and the threats the prosecutors warned about.
The judge noted that the rules cited by the prosecutors to seek a gag order “still requires a finding” related to the potential risks to others. However, she held that prosecutors didn’t need a direct cause.
“There still needs to be a factual connection between A and B,” Cannon was quoted as saying by CNN.
Prosecutor David Harbach further argued that Trump’s other comments “ultimately result in all types of terrible things”.
Batting for the safety of FBI agents involved in the case, David said there should be a cap on Trump’s campaign.
‘Attacks are against Biden’
Defending Trump over his comments, his attorney Todd Blanche said there were no threats to FBI agents as cited by the prosecutors and argued that the government was trying to punish Trump for other people’s remarks.
“The attacks, very clearly, are against President Biden,” Blanche was quoted as saying by CNN.
Blanche also acknowledged that the Department of Justice’s “deadly force” policy during the Mar-a-Lago search was standard for executing search warrants but argued that it may not have been appropriate for agents to be armed.
The defense attorney also expressed concern that prosecutors are setting a “dangerous precedent” by attempting to alter the former president’s conditions of release.
He stated that prosecutors are too vaguely defining what constitutes a threat, which complicates adherence to potential new rules and risks making him liable for others’ comments.
“Steve Bannon making a comment is potentially the kind of thing that could send President Trump to jail,” Blanche said on CNN.
Trump faces dozens of felony counts accusing him of illegally hoarding at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, classified documents that he took with him after he left the White House in 2021, and then obstructing the FBI’s efforts to get them back. He has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.
Trump faces four criminal cases as he seeks to reclaim the White House, but outside of the ongoing New York hush money prosecution, it’s not clear that any of the other three will reach trial before the election.
