Special counsel Jack Smith is advocating for the judge presiding over Donald Trump's federal election subversion case to reimpose the a gag order on him, arguing that the former president has used his time unbridled by its restrictions to attack and pressure witnesses like former chief of staff Mark Meadows, Politico reports. In the 32-page filing submitted Wednesday night, federal prosecutors portray Trump as a real danger who must be reined in by the court to not only protect the integrity of his March trial but also the government witnesses' safety.
U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan issued the gag order last week after determining that Trump's repeated attacks on potential witnesses and Smith threatened the proceedings, pausing it a few days later after the former president appealed it. With the loosening of the restrictions came Trump's immediate barrage of public attacks that would have violated the order had it been in effect, the special counsel's team argued. “The defendant has returned to the very sort of targeting that the Order prohibits, including attempting to intimidate and influence foreseeable witnesses, and commenting on the substance of their testimony,” wrote the senior assistant special counsels, Molly Gaston and Thomas Windom.
Prosecutors went on to describe the former president as aware of and using to his advantage his influence over extremist followers who, motivated by his inflammatory comments, threaten or attack his perceived enemies. “The defendant knows the effect of his targeting and seeks to use it to his strategic advantage while simultaneously disclaiming any responsibility for the very acts he causes,” they wrote. Gaston and Windom pointed to Trump's latest sanction Wednesday in his New York civil fraud case and his dig at Meadows following reports of his immunity deal as examples of conduct that merit the order's reinstatement.
