It should come to no one’s surprise that Special Counsel Jack Smith is trying to muzzle former President Donald Trump in the election interference case. Trump’s social media posts have created an environment where key individuals involved with the case, including the judge, have received death threats. Smith requests a “narrow” gag order, though Trump and his supporters won’t see it that way (via NBC News):
Citing threats against individuals former President Donald Trump has targeted, special counsel Jack Smith has asked a federal judge for a narrowly tailored gag order that restricts the 2024 presidential candidate from making certain extrajudicial statements about the election interference case brought against him.
A redacted copy of a government filing — released Friday, after an order from U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan — comes in connection with the election interference case, one of four criminal cases the former president is facing, two of which are federal.
“The defendant has an established practice of issuing inflammatory public statements targeted at individuals or institutions that present an obstacle or challenge to him,” the special counsel's office wrote.
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At an event in Washington, Trump made his first public remarks on the filing by attacking Smith, arguing that the special counsel "wants to take away my rights under the First Amendment, wants to take away my right of speaking freely and openly."
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Smith's office said that Trump's rhetoric against the court and prosecutors echoed the monthslong campaign after his 2020 election loss that resulted in the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“As set forth in the indictment, after election day in 2020, the defendant launched a disinformation campaign in which he publicly and widely broadcast knowingly false claims that there had been outcome-determinative fraud in the presidential election, and that he had actually won,” federal prosecutors wrote in the motion released Friday. “In service of his criminal conspiracies, through false public statements, the defendant sought to erode public faith in the administration of the election and intimidate individuals who refuted his lies."
Trump is facing four trials and nearly 100 felony charges from these legal efforts that many see as an attempt by overzealous lawyers to derail his 2024 candidacy. Though one could make an argument that the Left thought this would be the gasoline needed to light a fire under the GOP in nominating Trump again, as he was seen as the weaker opponent for Joe Biden’s re-election bid. That all changed when the economy didn’t turn around as the Biden administration had hoped, and credible and incriminating evidence was revealed concerning the Biden family’s involvement in Hunter Biden’s influence-peddling operation.
It's early, but Trump and Biden are in a dead heat, with even CNN election analysts warning that Trump can win in 2024. Former Obama campaign officials, like Jim Messina, have echoed the same sentiments, warning Democrats that Trump cannot and should not be taken lightly. He has plenty of pieces to win next year.
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