- Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan imposed a limited gag order last week, but then suspended it
- Trump has since been fined by the judge overseeing the fraud case in New York
- Smith warned of ‘indirect’ messages to witnesses and could put them ‘in danger’
Special counsel Jack Smith has asked a federal judge to reimpose a silence order on Donald Trump, accusing the former president of “publicly attacking” potential witnesses despite repeated warnings from the court.
Smith’s accusers cite Trump’s recent post about former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, calling it an attempt to “intimidate” him following a report that he had struck an immunity deal with prosecutors.
That happened despite an injunction that U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan imposed and then suspended while the parties argued about it.
“In the few days since the administrative suspension went into effect, the defendant has returned to the type of targeting that the Order prohibits, including attempts to intimidate and influence foreseeable witnesses, and comment on the content of their testimony,” says Smith’s team. wrote in a file Wednesday evening.
Prosecutors cited a message from former President Donald Trump about his former White House chief of staff, accusing him of “intimidate” witnesses
In a message that prosecutors printed in their case file, Trump wrote on October 20 after the stunning Meadows report: “Some people would make that deal, but they are weaklings and cowards, and so bad for the future of our failing nation.” I don’t think Mark Meadows is one of them, but who really knows?’
Meadows’ attorney George Terwilliger cast doubt on the report after it was published, calling it largely inaccurate.
Prosecutors first convinced Chutkan to impose the gag order to protect witnesses and prevent the DC jury pool from becoming contaminated. They write in their filing unless the judge immediately reorders it, witnesses “may be influenced or deterred by the suspect’s documented target.”
Judge Tanya Chutkan imposed a gag order on Trump, citing the risk to potential witnesses and the importance of avoiding tainting the jury pool in the Jan. 6 case. Prosecutors want it reimposed after she puts a break on it
The filing comes after New York Judge Arthur Engoron fined Trump $10,000 for violating his own gag order, following comments Engoron said were directed at his clerk. Judge Engoron said he would reconsider the fine after Trump’s lawyers complained.
Without court intervention, Smith’s team argued, “the defendant will continue to threaten the integrity of this proceeding and endanger the participants in the trial.”
They took issue with Trump’s tactic of relying on social media, in which he identifies perceived enemies by name but then uses vague language or asks questions rather than issuing outright instructions to his millions of followers.
By “publicly targeting perceived opponents with inflammatory language, he can maintain plausible deniability while ensuring desired outcomes,” they write.
Chutkan himself was the rrecipient of threats while presiding over the case, in which Trump is accused of conspiring to interfere with an official proceeding as part of his effort to overturn the election.