Former President Donald Trump, the leading candidate in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, may soon be legally banned from saying the phrases “Injustice Department” and “Biden indictments” if prosecutor Jack Smith has his way.
Smith’s office said Trump was making “irrelevant” claims in the pending federal election interference case in Washington, D.C. and asked the court to gag the 45th president.
Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges in August, and he has repeatedly said the case is a politically motivated “witch hunt” meant to undermine his 2024 campaign for reelection.
“Through public statements, filings and argument in hearings before the court, the defense has attempted to inject into this case partisan political attacks and irrelevant and prejudicial issues that have no place in a jury trial,” the Department of Justice complaint to the judge said in a filing Wednesday.
“Although the court can recognize these efforts for what they are and disregard them, the jury — if subjected to them — may not,” Smith’s office claimed.
“The court should not permit the defendant to turn the courtroom into a forum in which he propagates irrelevant disinformation, and should reject his attempt to inject politics into this proceeding.”
If the filing is accepted by the court, Trump would be punished if he used “terminology such as the ‘Injustice Department,’ ‘Biden Indictment’ or similar phrases” in front of a jury.
In response, Trump blasted Smith on his TruthSocial app. He pointed to the Supreme Court’s denial of Smith’s request to immediately take up Trump’s presidential immunity claims as evidence that Smith was politically motivated.
It “is so sad that the Supreme Court just unanimously rejected his desperate attempt to rush this Witch Hunt, that he is ignoring the law and clear instructions from District Court Judge Chutkan, who unequivocally stated that this ‘case’ is stayed and there should be no litigation,” Trump wrote in his statement.
Trump said Smith was “obsessed with attacking President Trump and interfering with the 2024 Presidential Election” and was acting as Biden’s “errand boy.”
The Washington, D.C. trial is currently scheduled to begin on March 4.
The Horn editorial team