Judge Doesn’t Rule On Motion Restricting Trump From Slamming FBI Agents

 U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon on Monday did not immediately rule on a motion from special counsel Jack Smith’s team to add new restrictions on former President Donald Trump that would prevent him from making claims about being unfairly targeted by law enforcement.

In a hearing on Monday, prosecutor David Harbach contended that Trump’s statements about FBI agents who were involved in the probe into how Trump handled classified documents “are dangerous” to investigators who might be called to testify against Trump. Smith had asked for Trump’s bail to be amended to prevent him from making any disparaging comments about law enforcement agents involved in the documents case.

Todd Blanche, Trump’s attorney, contended that the restrictions Smith intended to implement were unclear to others, saying, “Of course President Trump has absolutely no desire for anything bad to happen to law enforcement. It is a critique of President Biden and his Justice Department and it is completely fair and protected political speech.”

Cannon did not rule on Smith’s motion, leaving it in doubt as to whether the issue would be resolved before Thursday’s presidential debate between Trump and President Joe Biden. “Cannon repeatedly suggested that a new restriction was unnecessary when she had already agreed to redact the names of FBI agents from public court filings,” The Washington Post reported.

 

On May 21, Trump wrote on Truth Social:

WOW! I just came out of the Biden Witch Hunt Trial in Manhattan, the “Icebox,” and was shown Reports that Crooked Joe Biden’s DOJ, in their Illegal and UnConstitutional Raid of Mar-a-Lago, AUTHORIZED THE FBI TO USE DEADLY (LETHAL) FORCE. NOW WE KNOW, FOR SURE, THAT JOE BIDEN IS A SERIOUS THREAT TO DEMOCRACY. HE IS MENTALLY UNFIT TO HOLD OFFICE — 25TH AMENDMENT!

Harbach said of Trump’s statement, “Saying something like this is beyond irresponsible — it is dangerous.”

The FBI issued its own statement, saying: “The FBI followed standard protocol in this search as we do for all search warrants, which includes a standard policy statement limiting the use of deadly force. No one ordered additional steps to be taken and there was no departure from the norm in this matter.”