Feds seeking new Trump gag order list slew of ex-prez’s statements they say led to threats against them
Prosecutors in Donald Trump’s Florida documents case have listed a slew of public statements by the former president that they say led to threats against them, the FBI and court staff — all evidence that a gag order should be imposed on him.
The federal lawyers in special counsel Jack Smith’s office filed dozens of documents with a judge Wednesday that included copies of the Trump social media posts and campaign emails that allegedly led to threats from his supporters against law enforcement.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has repeatedly falsely claimed that the FBI threatened to kill him and his family when they raided his Mar-a-Lago home as part of the case accusing Trump of illegally hoarding troves of confidential documents there after he left the White House.
Trump, 78, began making those claims on the day of the raid — Aug. 8, 2022 — and has continued to make them as recently as last month, the feds said in laying out examples of the statements in court papers.
For example, in a May 21 Truth Social post, Trump wrote, “Joe Biden’s DOJ, in their Illegal and UnConstitutional Raid of Mar-a-Lago, AUTHORIZED THE FBI TO USE DEADLY (LETHAL) FORCE.”
A Trump fundraising email from May 23 also said, “BREAKING FROM TRUMP: BIDEN’S DOJ WAS AUTHORIZED TO SHOOT ME!,” according to the court filing.
On Truth Social that same day, Trump posted: “Crooked Joe Biden’s Department of Injustice authorized the use of “deadly force” in their Illegal, UnConstitutional, and Un-American RAID of Mar-a-Lago, and that would include against our Great Secret Service, who they thought might be ‘in the line of fire.'”
Prosecutors have argued that Trump had misconstrued a boilerplate, routine “deadly force” authorization during the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago “as an attempt to kill him, his family, and Secret Service agents,” according to court filings.
Prosecutors say Trump’s false claims led members of the public on five occasions to threaten violence, including one man making threats on Truth Social the day after the August 2022 raid, warning, “Be ready for war tomorrow. If you don’t have ammunition … leave work when gun shop/pawn shop/Army-Navy stores opens tomorrow and get it.”
Another man was arrested for threatening to kidnap and murder an FBI special agent in Texas earlier this month, the court papers show.
Prosecutors have argued in court before Florida federal Judge Aileen Cannon twice — including Monday — seeking to have a gag imposed on Trump to protect law enforcement officials from anyone who could be mobilized to violence by his false statements.
But Trump’s lawyers have argued that such an order would impinge on his right to free speech, especially as he’s set to appear for a debate against President Biden on Thursday night.
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche told Cannon on Monday in a hearing in Fort Pierce, Fla., federal court that if she signs off on the gag request, Trump could be arrested after the debate if he runs afoul of the order during the event.
It “would be extremely chilling to President Trump and what he’s allowed to say,” Blanche argued. “If signed, they can arrest him.”
Trump political adviser Steven Cheung added in a statement Thursday, “The only thing collapsing faster than Crooked Joe Biden’s poll numbers is Deranged Jack Smith’s partisan Witch Hunt.
“The closer we get to Election Day the more Smith’s team will leak, obfuscate and lie about President Trump in a feeble attempt to fool the American People. The Radical Leftists will fail. The entire documents case was a political sham from the very beginning and it should be thrown out entirely,” Cheung said.
Cannon has yet to rule on the feds’ motion to modify Trump’s conditions of bail to limit his statements.
Two other gags have been imposed in unrelated criminal cases against the real estate tycoon, including his Manhattan “hush money” case — in which Trump was convicted on all 34 counts — and the DC case against him for his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 40 counts related to the Florida indictment. The trial has been indefinitely postponed.
