U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon shut down efforts by Republicans to get involved in former President Donald Trump‘s case involving his alleged mishandling of classified documents.
On Monday, Cannon rejected a motion from 24 Republican attorneys general across the nation that sought to have the court avoid granting Special Counsel Jack Smith a gag order against Trump.
“PAPERLESS ORDER denying 623 Motion for Leave to File Brief as Amicus Curiae in Opposition to Special Counsel’s Motion to Modify Conditions of Release 592. Signed by Judge Aileen M. Cannon on 6/17/2024. (jf01) (Entered: 06/17/2024),” Cannon said in a court document on Monday, Law and Crime reported.
On Sunday, 24 Republican attorneys general, including Florida’s Ashley Moody and Iowa’s Brenna Bird, and from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming, filed a motion to stop Smith’s request for the gag order. “Free and fair elections in the United States depend on candidates’ ability to speak about important issues of the day,” the attorneys general said in their motion. “Attempts to stop a candidate from speaking out harm more than just the candidate. They also hurt the voters, who are denied access to crucial information, and the States, which are responsible for managing elections.
“And when agents of one candidate seek a court order to muzzle discussion on matters relating to important electoral issues, that restraint raises even more fundamental First Amendment concerns.”
This month, Cannon filed a paperless order setting a mid-June deadline for Trump’s legal team to respond to Smith’s motion asking her to modify Trump’s bond conditions. Trump was indicted by Smith for his alleged mishandling of classified documents that were found at his Mar-a-Lago residence after leaving office as president.
Smith has insisted that the judge impose a gag order on Trump, arguing that it is a necessary measure to protect law enforcement agents from the “significant, imminent, and foreseeable danger” that comes from the former president’s public remarks. The initial request came days after Trump claimed that the FBI used “DEADLY (LETHAL) FORCE” while raiding Mar-a-Lago in August 2022.
On May 24, Smith filed a motion seeking to alter Trump’s bond conditions, but it was later dismissed by Cannon. Smith initially argued that a gag order was necessary because Trump’s recent statements “create a grossly misleading impression about the intentions and conduct of federal law enforcement agents—falsely suggesting that they were complicit in a plot to assassinate him—and expose those agents, some of whom will be witnesses at trial, to the risk of threats, violence, and harassment.”
Last month, Smith renewed his efforts for a gag order. Cannon has yet to provide a ruling but gave Trump’s legal team a deadline to respond of June 14. Trump’s legal team filed a motion responding to Smith’s request on Friday, saying that he “seeks to restrict President Donald Trump’s campaign speech as the first presidential debate approaches at the end of this month.”
Newsweek reached out to Trump’s spokesperson and the offices of Moody and Bird via email for comment.