Former President Donald Trump could be arrested immediately following Thursday’s debate with President Biden if a South Florida federal judge approves a gag order sought by federal prosecutors in the classified documents case against the ex-commander-in-chief, one of Trump’s defense attorneys has claimed.
Todd Blanche argued Monday in Fort Pierce, Fla., federal court that the speech restrictions sought by special counsel Jack Smith “would be extremely chilling to President Trump and what he’s allowed to say.”
If approved, Blanche added, Smith’s team could “get an arrest warrant” if Trump, 78, says anything during the CNN debate that is deemed to violate the order, Politico reported.
“If signed, they can arrest him,” the attorney added.
US District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, rejected a request last month for a gag order that would bar threatening statements made about law enforcement — and chastised one of the prosecutors arguing for it in her courtroom on Monday.
Cannon lashed out at one of Smith’s top deputies, David Harbach, at one point for complaining that her constant questioning about any imminent threats to federal agents had prevented him from finishing his arguments.
“I don’t appreciate your tone,” Cannon responded, according to the New York Times. “I think we have been here before. I expect decorum in this courtroom. If you’re not able to do that, I’m sure one of your colleagues could take your place.”
Smith’s team claimed that Trump had mischaracterized a routine “deadly force” authorization during the August 2022 FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago estate, describing it “as an attempt to kill him, his family, and Secret Service agents,” according to court filings.
Prosecutors said the former president’s remarks had “endangered law enforcement officers involved in the investigation and prosecution of this case and threatened the integrity of these proceedings.”
“A restriction prohibiting future similar statements does not restrict legitimate speech,” Smith’s team wrote in a May 31 motion to modify the conditions of Trump’s release.
Earlier that month, the former president had blasted out fundraising emails that alleged the FBI agents were “locked & loaded,” “ready to take me out” and “just itching to do the unthinkable,” prosecutors noted in their filing.
On Truth Social, Trump had also claimed that “Crooked Joe Biden’s DOJ, in their Illegal and UnConstitutional [sic] Raid of Mar-a-Lago, AUTHORIZED THE FBI TO USE DEADLY (LETHAL) FORCE.”
Smith’s team claimed that Trump, 78, had mischaracterized a “deadly force” authorization for the FBI during its August 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago estate, describing it “as an attempt to kill him.”Attorney General Merrick Garland called the allegation “false” and “extremely dangerous,” echoing an FBI statement about the “deadly force” authorization being “standard protocol.”
“As the FBI advises, it is part of a standard operations plan for searches and, in fact, it was even used in the consensual search of President Biden’s home,” Garland told reporters on May 23.
Blanche, meanwhile, has said prosecutors have yet to prove any direct threat against a law enforcement officer based on Trump’s speech.
Cannon did not tell prosecutors or defense attorneys when she plans to issue a ruling on the gag order, a limitation imposed on Trump during his recent “hush money” case in Manhattan as well as his 2020 election interference case in Washington, DC.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all 40 counts stemming from the classified documents indictment.
The trial date has since been indefinitely postponed by Cannon, as Trump’s defense team has argued Smith was an improperly appointed special counsel.
