Judge Cannon Rejects Gag Order Request In Trump Classified Documents Case

Federal Judge Aileen Cannon, who is overseeing the case regarding former President Donald Trump‘s retention of classified documents, temporarily rejected Special Counsel Jack Smith‘s request to restrict Trump from making statements that could potentially endanger law enforcement agents involved in the case.

Basing her decision strictly on procedural grounds, Cannon slammed prosecutors for failing to meaningfully confer with Trump’s defense lawyers about a potential gag order before making the request.

In her order, Cannon wrote that the prosecutor’s efforts to confer with the defendant and his team were “wholly lacking in substance and professional courtesy.”

“Because the filing of the Special Counsel’s Motion did not adhere to these basic requirements, it is due to be denied without prejudice,” Cannon wrote, “It should go without saying that meaningful conferral is not a perfunctory exercise.”

However, Cannon noted that the prosecutors can request another gag order if they give Trump’s defense team “sufficient time” to read and discuss the motion.

The special counsel’s motion, the first instance of prosecutors seeking a gag order in Trump’s classified documents case, was in response to remarks made by Trump on social media and fundraising appeals.

These remarks criticized the F.B.I.’s policy on the use of deadly force during the search and seizure of government records at his Florida residence in August 2022.

Trump claimed that the bureau had authorized agents to kill him during the search of his Mar-a-Lago resort, saying that agents were “locked and loaded, ready to take me out” and that he “nearly escaped death.”

Prosecutors contended that Trump’s assertions were a “grossly misleading” interpretation of an F.B.I. operational plan for the search. They argued that it’s standard procedure for F.B.I. searches to restrict the use of force by agents during operations.

In response to Smith’s request, Trump’s attorneys filed a blistering motion on Memorial Day, dubbing the gag order request as an “extraordinary, unprecedented and unconstitutional censorship application” that “unjustly targets President Trump’s campaign speech while he is the leading candidate for the presidency.”

Trump’s defense team referred to the prosecution as the “self-appointed Thought Police,” arguing that they were “seeking to condition President Trump’s liberty on his compliance” with their views.

Trump’s legal team also filed a counter-motion, asking that Smith and his team be held in contempt and that their gag order request be stricken from the record. However, the motion was denied.

In her order, Cannon also included a new and unique requirement for any future motions, informing the defense and prosecution that every filing would have to include a brief statement from their adversary on how the conferral process had gone.