Trump lawyers to challenge limits on evidence sharing

Sarah N Lynch | August 12, 2023

Donald Trump’s lawyers will urge a judge to give the former United States president more leeway to publicly share portions of the evidence that will be used in his trial on charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election.

The lawyers’ request goes against the objections of prosecutors, who are concerned that Trump could use details of the confidential evidence to intimidate witnesses.

US Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office last week asked a judge to impose rules known as a “protective order,” to guard evidence before sharing the materials with Trump’s lawyers

It is standard practice for federal prosecutors to request protective orders before sharing evidence with defence lawyers to protect confidential records and ensure the integrity of the trial.

Often, defence lawyers do not oppose them because doing so slows down the government’s production of evidence, a process known as “discovery,” to help them prepare.

But Trump’s lawyers have argued the scope of the protective order is too broad and would run afoul of his free speech rights under the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

“The need to protect that information does not require a blanket gag order over all documents produced by the government,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in court papers.

The charges in a Washington, D.C., federal court are one of three prosecutions currently targeting Trump, the clear front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential nomination race.

In Friday’s case, he has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges that he orchestrated a plot to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election to keep himself in power.

In the government’s request, it said a protective order was needed and cited a threatening message Trump posted last week on social media: “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU.”

“If the defendant were to begin issuing public posts using details – or, for example, grand jury transcripts – obtained in discovery here, it could have a harmful chilling effect on witnesses or adversely affect the fair administration of justice in this case,” prosecutors wrote in their motion.

Since then, Trump has also attacked Smith’s character as well as that of former vice president Mike Pence, a key witness in the case, calling his former No.2 “delusional”.

“I never told a newly emboldened … Pence to put me above the Constitution, or that Mike was ‘too honest’,” Trump wrote on social media, in a direct reference to the indictment which cites Pence’s recollections of conversations with Trump.

As a condition of his release, Trump agreed he would not try to intimidate or threaten any witnesses in the case.

At his arraignment, Trump’s defence lawyer John Lauro complained about US District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s intention to set a trial date at a hearing on August 28, saying his team needed more time to understand the scope of the evidence.

At the same time, however, Lauro and his co-counsel Todd Blanche have also held up the discovery process itself by disagreeing with the terms of the government’s protective order.

Trump is separately facing a second set of charges brought by Smith’s office in Florida for retaining highly classified records after leaving the White House and New York state charges over hush-money payments to a porn star.

He has pleaded not guilty in all three cases.