On Monday, Donald Trump’s legal team had a bone to pick with the proposed restrictions on the former president discussing evidence and witnesses related to his criminal case. They claimed that the limits were too tight and could hurt his presidential campaign.
Attorneys Susan Necheles, Joe Tacopina, and Todd Blanche weren’t too happy with the Manhattan District Attorney’s recommended protective order. They said it was too broad and went against Trump’s First Amendment rights and the rights of the American public to hear what he has to say.
In response to prosecutors trying to stop Trump from publicly sharing evidence given to his defense team, the attorneys argued that protective measures were too stringent. Assistant District Attorney Catherine McCaw thought otherwise, saying that there’s a big risk of Trump misusing the evidence. She wanted to limit the defense’s use of discovery materials to just trial purposes and make sure Trump only looked at the evidence with his lawyers around.
McCaw pointed out Trump’s history of attacking witnesses and others involved in legal cases against him, like his former personal attorney Michael Cohen and adult film star Stormy Daniels. Both of them are expected to be key witnesses in the case.
Trump’s lawyers weren’t having it. They said the proposed protective order was unfairly limiting the defense’s ability to talk about the evidence publicly, without putting the same restrictions on prosecutors or witnesses. They pushed for a more focused version of the order, arguing that there’s no proof Trump has misused discovery materials in the past.
