(DCWatchdog.com) – HAPPENING NOW: Late yesterday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) asked Judge Tanya Chutkan, the U.S. District Court judge presiding over Donald Trump’s trial, to limit his online sharing of details about his indictment. The trial is happening in Washington, D.C., and Trump faces four charges connected to his supposed efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election’s results.
In a recent court document, DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith voiced concerns that if Trump started sharing specifics about the case, like grand jury transcripts he received, it might intimidate witnesses or undermine the fair handling of the case. “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,” Smith wrote.
This request from the DOJ follows Trump’s recent post on his social media platform, Truth Social, saying, “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!”
This past Tuesday, Smith indicted Trump on four charges: scheming to defraud the U.S., conspiring to interfere with an official proceeding, obstruction and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and a conspiracy against rights.
The indictment document, which is 45 pages long, describes Trump’s alleged behavior after losing the 2020 election. “Despite having lost, the Defendant was determined to remain in power. So for more than two months following election day on November 3, 2020, the Defendant spread lies that there had been outcome-determinative fraud in the election and that he had actually won. These claims were false, and the Defendant knew that they were false,” reads one part of the indictment.
Smith commented on the events surrounding the indictment during a news conference. “The attack on our nation’s capitol on January 6, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy,” Smith said. “As described in the indictment, it was fueled by lies.” He pledged to pursue a swift trial so the evidence could be presented and evaluated by a jury.
Trump has dismissed these charges and criticized Smith’s credibility. “Deranged Jack Smith, in order to interfere with the Presidential Election of 2024, will be putting out yet another Fake Indictment of your favorite President, me, at 5:00 P.M,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He then questioned the timing of the charges, saying they were designed to disrupt his potential campaign.
This is now the third criminal indictment that Trump faces. In March, he was charged in Manhattan with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Then in June, in a Miami federal court, he pleaded not guilty to another 37 felony counts, this time related to alleged mishandling of classified documents.
