Special Counsel Smith asks judge to order Trump to make statements that pose a risk to law enforcement

Special counsel Jack Smith on Friday took the extraordinary step of asking the federal judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case to bar Trump from making statements that could pose a significant risk to the forces of the order.

The request follows Trump’s efforts to seize newly discovered evidence in the case that he says shows President Biden planned to assassinate him during the search of his Mar-a-Lago club in August 2022 .

“The Government is moving to modify the conditions of release for defendant Donald J. Trump to make clear that he cannot make statements that pose a significant, imminent, and foreseeable danger to law enforcement officers laws participating in the investigation and prosecution of this matter,” the government said. According to documents filed by Smith.

“The government’s request is necessary because of several intentionally false and inflammatory statements made recently by Trump that misrepresent the circumstances under which the Federal Bureau of Investigation planned and executed the search warrant at Mar-a-Lago. These statements create a grossly misleading impression about the intentions and behavior of federal law enforcement agents – falsely suggesting that they were complicit in a plot to assassinate him – and exposing those agents, some of whom will be witnesses at trial, at risk of threats, violence and harassment.

In a fundraising email responding to right-wing media reports that offered a distorted reading of a recently unsealed court filing in the Trump classified documents case, Trump falsely claimed that Biden was “locked up.” and loaded, ready to take me.”

In a separate post on his Truth Social platform Tuesday evening, Trump further said he was “shown reports” that Biden’s DOJ “AUTHORIZED THE FBI TO USE DEADLY (LETAL) FORCE” in its research of classified documents.

“Trump…grossly misrepresented…standard practices by falsely portraying them as a plan to kill him, his family, and U.S. Secret Service agents,” the filing says. “These misleading and inflammatory claims irresponsibly put a target on the backs of the FBI agents involved in this matter, as Trump knows well.”

Special counsel details steps they took to mitigate any risk of escalation during Mar-a-Lago raid in August 2022 – ensuring he and his family were out of state and even contacting his lawyer before starting the search. search for the property.

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The filing states: “As Trump well knows, the FBI took extraordinary care to execute the search warrant discreetly and without unnecessary confrontation: They timed the search of Mar-a-Lago at a time when he and his family would be absent; They planned to coordinate with Trump’s lawyer, Secret Service agents and Mar-a-Lago staff before and during the execution of the warrant and planned for contingencies – which, in fact, never happened. produced – to find out who to contact if Trump were to arrive on scene. »

Bolstering the claim, the filing highlights the attack on an FBI field office in Cincinnati, Ohio, which they say followed statements Trump made “inflaming his supporters” following the month’s raid of August.

They also point out that Trump’s lawyers misleadingly referred to the FBI policy as “use of deadly force” in their motion that sparked the current controversy, noting that Trump’s lawyers — without explanation — omitted the word ” only” before the words “when necessary” without any explanation. ellipses reflecting the omission.

For example, here’s how Trump’s lawyers wrote about the policy in their filing: “Law enforcement officers of the Department of Justice may use deadly force when necessary,” but the statement The policy actually reads: “Law enforcement officers of the Department of Justice may use deadly force when necessary.” Justice can only use deadly force if necessary. »

Trump pleaded not guilty last June to 37 counts related to his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information ranging from U.S. nuclear secrets to the country’s defense capabilities, and took steps aimed at thwarting government efforts to recover the documents.

It is unclear when or how U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon will respond to the request. She set a series of hearings for late June to hear the various attempts by Trump and his co-defendants to dismiss the case.