(LibertySociety.com) – President Trump blasted Special Counsel Jack Smith on August 11 after learning that he wants the trial for the 2020 presidential election charges to start less than two weeks before the presidential primary caucuses in the state of Iowa. Smith believes that the case could be decided in a matter of weeks, right before the Super Tuesday swath of primary elections across the country. In a Truth Social post, Trump called Smith “an out of touch lunatic” for attempting to interfere with the election. A January 2, 2024, trial date would dominate the news cycle and could prevent Trump from fending off attacks by other Republican candidates.
Judge Tanya Chutkan handed a small victory to former President Trump on August 11, as she denied Special Counsel Smith’s request for a protective order that would prevent Trump from speaking about the case publicly. His attorneys told the judge that the broad protective order the Department of Justice (DOJ) was seeking would limit his free speech, noting that he has the right to respond to accusations and criticism from people such as former Vice President Mike Pence. Pence is a witness in the case and has been publicly accusatory since Trump was charged with crimes related to the 2020 election.
The judge agreed with Trump’s attorneys that a protective order against sharing sensitive materials would be sufficient but warned that he should be careful with what he shares with the public. She specifically barred him from discussing grand jury and witness testimony. Trump’s attorneys’ response opposing the protective order accused the DOJ of attempting to interfere with the election. It also included President Biden’s “Dark Brandon” coffee mug tweet on the day of his arraignment, noting what they believe to be Biden’s personal involvement in his prosecution.
The prosecutors attempted to take a dig against Trump when expressing their concerns about him sharing information from the discovery materials, referencing his document retention indictment from Smith. The judge also declined to require Trump to be chaperoned by his attorneys when reviewing sensitive materials but said that he would not be allowed to have any devices with him that could take photographs of the material.
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