Former President Donald Trump’s attorneys are claiming a violation of his First Amendment rights in response to a protective order sought by the Justice Department. The order was requested due to Trump’s attacks against prosecutors and the judge assigned to his 2020 election meddling case.
During his arraignment in Washington D.C., Trump acknowledged the criminality of trying to influence a juror or intimidate a witness, as explained by Magistrate Judge Moxila A. Upadhyaya. However, less than 24 hours later, Trump launched a series of attacks against Special Counsel Jack Smith, other prosecutors involved in his cases, and federal Judge Tanya Chutkan.
In response, the Justice Department requested a protective order to limit Trump’s access to and public sharing of evidence during the discovery phase of the trial. Trump’s attorneys view this order as a violation of his First Amendment rights and proposed language changes to narrow the definition of sensitive material.
In their response, Trump’s attorneys included various unrelated elements, such as a screenshot of a TikTok video featuring President Joe Biden drinking from a mug with a Dark Brandon theme. They claimed that this TikTok video was a thinly veiled reference to Trump’s indictment.
Furthermore, Trump’s attorneys repeated their allegations that the charges against him are politically motivated, aimed at preventing him from returning to office. They cited a decontextualized quote from Biden pledging to prevent Trump from becoming the next president again.
While awaiting a decision from Judge Chutkan, Trump continued his social media outbursts, expressing frustration about facing multiple trials during a campaign where he claims to be winning by a considerable margin.
