DC judge will craft new Trump Jan. 6 case protective order: live updates

Federal prosecutors and attorneys for former President Trump are in court Friday morning for a hearing on the prosecution’s request for a protective order in the election interference case.

Prosecutors have been seeking a protective order before turning over any evidence to Trump and his legal team. Resolving the battle could impact the case timeline: Trump’s attorneys have said they can’t suggest a trial date until seeing the scope of prosecutors’ evidence.

Special counsel Jack Smith last week told the judge overseeing Trump’s Washington, D.C., criminal case that the government is prepared to provide the former president’s attorneys with a “substantial amount of discovery,” including some to which “the defendant is not entitled at this stage of the proceedings.”

But to do so, the judge must stop Trump from engaging in “improper dissemination or use of discovery materials, including to the public,” Smith said. 

Follow along here all day for updates in this matter and other Trump legal issues.