Trump attorney suggests protective order is an ‘attack’ on freedom of the press

Former President Trump’s attorney John Lauro suggested Sunday that the Department of Justice’s request for a protective order on evidence in its case against Trump is an “attack” on the freedom of the press. 

“This is an attack on you and members of the press,” Lauro said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos. “I’m really surprised people haven’t spoken out about it.” 

Special counsel Jack Smith requested a protective order for evidence Friday evening, asking for Trump to be prohibited from sharing evidence in the case during the discovery process, citing things like grand jury materials and sealed search warrant affidavits. Prosecutors argued a protective order is needed due to Trump’s past of publicly discussing cases and targeting attorneys and judges in other cases against him.

Trump’s defense team has until 5 p.m. Monday to either accept the proposed protective order or submit a revision after an attempt to extend that deadline was shot down by Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the case.

“What the government, what the Biden administration is trying to do is prevent the press from learning about exculpatory and helpful information — evidence — that the people have a right to know about,” Lauro said. 

The request from prosecutors came after the former president made a social media post Friday appearing to threaten witnesses in the case. 

“IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday.

The Trump campaign later argued Trump’s post is protected speech and was not intended to be threatening. 

“The position of the prosecutor is [that] non-sensitive, ordinary evidence should not be discussed to the press — that’s shocking,” Lauro said. “Not only do they want to violate President Trump’s First Amendment rights, they want to violate freedom of the press. And I’m surprised that the major networks aren’t filing papers with me on Monday.” 

In a separate interview with Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday,” Lauro said he would “love to see” Trump’s trial televised. 

“I’m convinced the Biden administration does not want the American people to see the truth. And they acted on it by filing this protective order, which is an effort to keep important information about this case from the press,” Lauro told Bream. 

Trump appeared at Washington’s federal courthouse Thursday afternoon where he pleaded not guilty to four counts accusing him of a conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and attempts to block the certification of votes on Jan. 6, 2021. The Justice Department’s 45-page indictment alleges Trump led a campaign of “dishonesty, fraud and conceit” to obstruct a “bedrock function” of a democracy.