The government and Trump’s lawyers are working out proposed rules to which the former president and his legal team must adhere when they review evidence materials during the discovery process — when the defense team reviews all the evidence that the government has collected in the case. It is a standard part of the legal process, and a judge must sign off on the agreement. Evidence that is handed over in the discovery process includes grand jury interviews, recordings and materials obtained through sealed search warrants.
The government’s proposed agreement — called a protective order — dictates that Trump and his lawyers not disclose any of the materials they receive during the discovery process to people who are not authorized by the court to have knowledge of the materials.
Prosecutors said that while the agreement is not stricter than ones in standard criminal cases, it is particularly important in this case because Trump has posted on social media about judges, lawyers and witnesses involved in the multiple ongoing cases in which he is a defendant.
The filing includes an image of a threatening post that Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform earlier Friday afternoon, apparently in reference to the D.C. case, that reads: “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!”
The government’s lawyers also said they wanted to get the protective order settled quickly so they could begin the discovery process — and move forward with pretrial proceedings.
“If the defendant were to begin issuing public posts using details — or, for example, grand jury transcripts — obtained in discovery here, it could have a harmful chilling effect on witnesses or adversely affect the fair administration of justice in this case,” reads the filing, signed by special counsel Jack Smith.
The filing also states that Trump and his attorneys should be barred from writing down any identifying information about people involved in the case.
U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, who is presiding over the case, ordered Trump’s defense to respond to the government request by 5 p.m. Monday, including any changes they propose.
In a filing, Trump’s legal team said they needed more time to respond and asked for a Thursday afternoon deadline instead of the Monday one the judge ordered. The lawyers wrote that it was unreasonable for federal prosecutors to file their order late on a Friday, saying it violated the “bedrock due process principle.”
“Friday evening ultimatums, given by the government before even calling defense counsel, are wholly unproductive and undermine the potential for party-driven resolutions,” Trump attorney John Lauro wrote in a court filing shortly after noon Saturday. “Requiring a Monday response to a Friday evening motion likewise forecloses the possibility of agreement and would encourage such improper tactics by the government in the future.”
Prosecutors shot back their response later Saturday, saying that the Monday deadline should stick. They criticized Trump’s attorneys for wasting time requesting that the judge grant them an extension instead of complying with the order.
“The defendant’s extension motion proposes unnecessary delay to normal order,” prosecutors wrote.
The early dispute underscores the two sides’ opposing views on the urgency of moving toward trial. It also echoes the tension in Trump’s Florida case, and all eyes are on how the judges in the two cases respond.
The Trump campaign also issued a statement early Saturday saying the social media post cited by the government was aimed at the former president’s political critics in the Republican Party.
“The Truth post cited is the definition of political speech,” the statement said. It also went on to blast special interest groups and specifically the Club for Growth and the politically active and deep-pocketed network funded by the billionaire industrialist Charles Koch.
Trump has previously posted disparaging comments on social media about the federal investigations into him and about Smith, the prosecutor leading those cases. Trump has called Smith “deranged” and a “psycho” and said he “looks like a crackhead.”
Devlin Barrett contributed to this report.
