Former President Donald Trump pushed back on a Department of Justice request for a gag order with regard to his prosecution.
The Trump legal team published a 25-page brief to condemn the DOJ’s request, citing freedom of speech and the necessity of transparency.
“The prosecution would silence President Trump, amid a political campaign where his right to criticize the government is at its zenith, all to avoid a public rebuke of this prosecution. However, ‘above all else, the First Amendment means that government has no power to restrict expression because of its message, its ideas, its subject matter, or its content,’” the brief states.
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The document adds, “The prosecution may not like President’s Trump’s entirely valid criticisms, but neither it nor this Court are the filter for what the public may hear.”
The brief was filed Monday and disputes claims by prosecutors that Trump’s history of inflammatory comments about political opponents threaten legal proceedings.
Special counsel Jack Smith’s team is aiming to restrict the former president’s ability to comment on the case, saying that his famously fiery and antagonistic rhetoric could affect jurors’ perceptions.
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“The defendant knows that when he publicly attacks individuals and institutions, he inspires others to perpetrate threats and harassment against his targets,” prosecutors previously said.
The former president has cited the Constitution multiple times this week while defending himself from critics.
Trump responded to efforts by Democrats to ban him from presidential primary ballots in 2024 on Monday, saying the U.S. Constitution protects him.
Trump is facing efforts in several states to remove his name from ballots over his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol protests, which his critics argue amounted to an insurrection against the United States. Attorneys for Trump argue that his statements regarding the 2020 election are protected by the First Amendment.
“At no time do Petitioners argue that President Trump did anything other than engage in either speaking or refusing to speak for their argument that he engaged in the purported insurrection,” attorney Geoffrey Blue wrote in a Colorado court filing on Monday.