by Frank Holmes, reporter
Former President Donald Trump will get his day in court—but he won’t be able to tell you about it.
On Thursday, a judge set the date the 45th president’s trial for allegedly taking highly classified documents to his home for August 14.
But Trump won’t be able to speak openly about the trial’s proceedings, because a judge slapped a gag order on him… at the request of the Biden administration’s Justice Department.
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Trump cannot “disclose” the facts he learns during the trial “directly or indirectly to any person or entity other than persons employed to assist in the defense, persons who are interviewed as potential witnesses, counsel for potential witnesses, and other persons to whom the Court may authorize disclosure,” says the order signed by U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart.
Not only can Trump not speak about the matter, he can hardly look at them.
Trump can only review court documents “under the direct supervision of Defense Counsel or a member of Defense Counsel’s staff. Defendants shall not retain copies of” the materials, either.
If Trump tries to defend himself publicly—even if the prosecutor’s office is leaking like a sieve—he could face “contempt of court or other civil or criminal sanctions.”
It may not be the only way the court is tying both of Trump’s lips behind his back.
Alvin Bragg’s prosecutors also asked for a gag order against Trump in the case over allegedly paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels.
The judicial hush-up could have a serious impact on the 2024 presidential race.
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“Will Trump be permitted to travel to Milwaukee for the first GOP debate on the 23rd? Will he be under a gag order?” asked talk show host Steve Deace. You can bet moderators will ask Trump about the case—so a gag order will keep him from defending himself on stage.
Let's say they actually do go to trial on August 14th, which I don't think will happen but that is the current calendar. Will Trump be permitted to travel to Milwaukee for the first GOP debate on the 23rd? Will he be under a gag order? Questions I never thought I'd have to…
— Steve Deace (@SteveDeaceShow) June 20, 2023
For example, Trump told Fox News host Breit Baier he did not show anyone sensitive national security documents about Iran; he said audio recordings caught him rustling newspaper articles instead.
But that was before Reinhart’s gag order. Now, he’ll never be able to give that kind of defense again in public.
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Some conservatives accused the DOJ of “judge shopping,” since Reinhart signed off the warrant for the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago.
It’s not the first time the judge has tried to keep documents out of public view.
Before he was named to the federal bench in 2018, Bruce Reinhart acted as legal counsel to Jeffrey Epstein.
Epstein infamously flew some high-profile figures on his Lolita Express to a private island teeming with underage girls.
Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s girlfriend, reportedly said that Epstein would molest girls up to three times a day. It went on until a 14-year-old victim tipped off the police in 2005.
Epstein worked out a sweetheart plea deal that gave him 13 months jail time on paper — but not much in the cell: He got “work release” for 12 hours a day… and the deal gave immunity to “any potential co-conspirators.”
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The victims felt that they didn’t have a voice in Epstein’s sentencing… so they sued the U.S. for breaching the Crime Victims’ Rights Act.
The state fought Epstein’s child molestation victims in court, and Epstein’s attorneys joined the case—including Bruce Reinhart.
“Attorneys Roy Black, Jay Lefkowitz, Bruce Reinhart, and Martin Weinberg are also intervenors in the CVRA suit between the alleged victims and federal prosecutors,” reported the Above the Law website.
Reinhart’s participation in the case looked dirty from the start—since Epstein hired him directly from the office that prosecuted him.
“Epstein also hired Bruce Reinhart,” who “left the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Jan. 1, 2008, and went to work representing Epstein’s employees on Jan. 2, 2008, court records show,” reported the Miami Herald.
“In 2011, Reinhart was named in the Crime Victims’ Rights Act lawsuit, which accused him of violating Justice Department policies by switching sides, implying that he leveraged inside information about Epstein’s investigation to curry favor with Epstein.”
Reinhart skirted the law, saying that he didn’t investigate Epstein and that, technically, he never represented Epstein in court…he represented two of Epstein’s pilots.
Documents contain the names of more than 1,000 people associated with Epstein, attorneys said during a 2019 court hearing. Those names include powerful predators still wielding power — and still loved and admired — in every corner of U.S. society, from Wall Street to Hollywood to Washington.
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They can rest easy. Guards found Jeffrey Epstein dead inside his in the Manhattan Correctional Center in August 2019—they say from suicide—which tied up almost all the loose ends.
Dead men tell no tales.
Now, Reinhart is telling Donald Trump to keep his mouth shut about what the National Archives told him, what members of the team overseeing the presidential transition told him
What is he hiding this time?
Frank Holmes is a veteran journalist and an outspoken conservative that talks about the news that was in his weekly article, “On The Holmes Front.”