WASHINGTON — A federal judge will allow former President Donald Trump to publicly release some evidence in his election fraud case – but warned any statements from him or his lawyers intended to intimidate witnesses would result in swift action from the court and could push the case more quickly to trial.
Attorneys for both Trump and the government met Friday morning in U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan’s courtroom in D.C. to hash out the details of a protective order determining how evidence in the case can be viewed and disseminated. Protective orders are a standard part of every criminal case in federal court and often go uncontested by defendants.
“Mr. Trump, like every American, has a First Amendment right to free speech,” Chutkan said at the beginning of the hearing. “But that right is not absolute.”
The Special Counsel’s Office, represented by Senior Assistant Special Counsel Thomas Windom, requested a blanket order that would have prevented the former president from publicly discussing nearly any part of the voluminous discovery the government was expected to turn over. Windom highlighted what the government saw as the threats of Trump having a broad ability to release evidence from the case, including witness intimidation and a tainted jury pool.
“The defendant’s proposal specifically is tailored to permit them to try this case in the media,” Windom said. “Here, the defendant is asking for the court’s blessing to be able to use criminal discovery for political purposes.”
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Trump’s defense team, led by attorney John Lauro, accused the government of an effort to stifle the Republican candidate’s speech during campaign season and repeatedly suggested the Special Counsel’s Office was acting at the behest of President Joe Biden – Trump’s presumptive opponent in the 2024 presidential election.
Chutkan, however, repeatedly stressed she would not allow politics to interfere with the case.
“The fact that he’s running a political campaign currently has to yield to the orderly administration of justice,” she said. “And if that means he has to limit what he says about witnesses in this case, that’s how it has to be.”
Lauro said Trump would “scrupulously” abide by any conditions Chutkan imposed, but argued he shouldn’t be restricted in his speech on the campaign trail. He highlighted former Vice President Mike Pence, who is both a potentially key witness for the government and one of Trump’s opponents for the Republican presidential nomination, as a particular sticking point.
“He’s a criminal defendant,” Chutkan responded. “He’s going to have restrictions like every other criminal defendant.”
Chutkan ultimately granted some of Trump’s request. She agreed to restrict her protective order to discovery deemed “non-sensitive” – although she denied a change sought by Trump’s attorneys that would have allowed him to release recordings and transcripts of witness interviews.
“You start releasing snippets of those witness interview transcripts, what do you think is going to happen to those witnesses?” Chutkan asked Lauro.
Chutkan also granted a request by the defense to allow Trump to review sensitive materials alone without an attorney present – although they will have to review any notes he makes to ensure he isn’t writing down information that could publicly identify witnesses. Trump’s attorneys will also have to ensure they retain custody of the evidence while he’s not reviewing it.
“He has shown a tendency to desire to hold on to material which he should not,” Windom said wryly.
After issuing her ruling on the outstanding disputes, Chutkan said she intended to file the protective order as soon as Friday afternoon. Once its in place, Windom said the Special Counsel’s Office would begin turning over evidence to Trump’s team. He said the first batch of discovery totaled roughly 11.6 million pages or files, along with a hard drive containing communication records.
Since his indictment Trump, who was not present for the hearing, has repeatedly posted about Special Counsel Jack Smith, Pence, Chutkan and others involved in the case online. A day after his arraignment, Trump wrote on his social media site, Truth Social, “IF YOU GOT AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU.” A Trump spokesperson subsequently claimed the post was discussing special interest groups and Super PACs.
Chutkan, a former public defender who was appointed to the D.C. District Court by President Barack Obama in 2014, said Friday there were no motions before her regarding Trump’s comments – but warned any statements by the former president or his attorneys that could be “reasonably interpreted to intimidate witnesses or prejudice potential jurors” would be dealt with swiftly.
“I caution you and your client to take special care in your public statements about this case,” Chutkan said. “I will take whatever measures are necessary to safeguard the integrity of these proceedings.”
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Aug. 28 in Chutkan’s court. Windom said the government expected to have the majority of discovery handed over to Trump’s attorneys by that hearing.