If President Joe Biden's Justice Department and Special Counsel Jack Smith were under the impression that former President Donald Trump would just sit back and not fight back while he's being targeted, they were sorely mistaken.
According to the Associated Press, the former president vowed revenge on those coming after him, which triggered Smith's office to immediately file a request for a protective order against him.
The protective order has to do with the type of information Trump and his lawyers would legally be allowed to share with the public with regard to the indictments he faces.
The AP noted, "The order, different from a 'gag order,' would limit what information Trump and his legal team could share publicly about the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith."
Prosecutors have attempted to silence Trump in the past, as the former president often takes to his Truth Social platform to provide updates and opinions on what's happening in the cases against him.
U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan was asked by the federal prosecutors to issue the protective order, and gave Trump's legal team until close of business on Monday to provide a response.
The AP added:
Trump’s legal team, which has indicated he would look to slow the case down despite prosecutors’ pledge of a speedy trial, then filed a request to extend the response deadline to Thursday and to hold a hearing on the matter, saying it needed more time for discussion.
The judge, however, denied the request for an extension, according to Julie Kelly.
"UPDATE: Chutkan denied Trump’s request for a few extra days to respond to (another) Jack Smith ambush protective order filed Friday night as both sides were conferring. Trump must file response by tomorrow at 5. Pretty sure this is highly unusual…" Kelly tweeted.
UPDATE: Chutkan denied Trump’s request for a few extra days to respond to (another) Jack Smith ambush protective order filed Friday night as both sides were conferring.
Trump must file response by tomorrow at 5. Pretty sure this is highly unusual… https://t.co/VsACP7nXmL
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) August 6, 2023
Smith's office is clearly scared of what Trump might post next, citing that the former president has already published posts regarding "witnesses, judges, attorneys, and others associated with legal matters pending against him."
"If you go after me, I’m coming after you!" Trump said in a recent Truth Social post, which prompted the scramble to slap him with a protective order.
On Sunday, the former president torched the judge overseeing the latest federal indictment, suggesting that his legal team will attempt to have the judge disqualified.
"THERE IS NO WAY I CAN GET A FAIR TRIAL WITH THE JUDGE “ASSIGNED” TO THE RIDICULOUS FREEDOM OF SPEECH/FAIR ELECTIONS CASE. EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS, AND SO DOES SHE! WE WILL BE IMMEDIATELY ASKING FOR RECUSAL OF THIS JUDGE ON VERY POWERFUL GROUNDS, AND LIKEWISE FOR VENUE CHANGE, OUT IF D.C.," Trump wrote.
