The Department of Justice is doubling down on its efforts to obtain a gag order against former President Donald Trump, citing his comments about the death penalty and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley.
DOJ prosecutors requested a gag order earlier this month, saying the former president could affect the legal process through his aggressive public statements.
This demand has been strengthened by prosecutors after Trump wrote a series of accusations on the Truth Social platform, criticizing Milley’s reported phone call to Chinese counterparts following the January 6, 2021 protests.
TRUMP DEMANDS COURT TO IGNORE DOJ REQUEST FOR GAG ORDER
Former President Donald Trump addresses his supporters as he arrives at Atlantic Aviation CHS in North Charleston, South Carolina. (AP Photo/Artie Walker Jr.)
Trump wrote that Milley “has become a Woke train wreck who, if the Fake News reporting is correct, is actually dealing with China to give them a heads-up on the thinking of the President of the United States.”
“This is an act so grave that, in former times, the penalty was DEATH!” added the former president.
Special counsel Jack Smith is pushing harder for the gag order following Trump’s comments about Milley.
TRUMP COMMENTS ABOUT THE PUNISHMENT OF GEN. MILLEY WITH ‘DEATH’ CAUSES MAYOR OUTCRY FROM GOP RIVALS
Jack Smith, US special counsel, speaks at a news conference in Washington, DC. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“The defendant should not be allowed to continue to try this case in the court of public opinion instead of the court of law, and thus undermine the fairness and integrity of this trial,” prosecutors argued Friday.
Trump’s team has strongly resisted requests for a gag order, saying it would be a violation of the former president’s civil rights.
The Trump legal team published a 25-page brief to condemn the DOJ’s request, citing freedom of speech and the need for transparency.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley speaks at a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington, DC. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
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“The prosecution will silence President Trump, in the midst of a political campaign in which his right to criticize the government is at its peak, all to avoid public rebuke of this prosecution. However, ‘above all, the First Amendment means that the government has no power to restrict expression because of its message, its ideas, its subject matter, or its content,'” the brief said.
