Following a Friday hearing where both sides contested the legitimacy of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s appointment in the case involving the classified documents against the former president, the legal team of former President Trump is back in court on Monday.
On Monday, the hearing will resume with the parties debating Smith’s appointment and a limited gag order that the prosecution has asked to prevent Trump from making any remarks that they believe could jeopardize the security of FBI agents and other law enforcement personnel involved in the case.
According to Trump’s attorneys, any limitations on his speech would violate his right to free speech. On technical grounds, Cannon first denied the prosecution’s motion, stating that Smith’s team had not had enough discussions with the defense attorneys before requesting the limits.
Later thereafter, the request was made again by the prosecutors.
Hours of arguments were presented to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Friday by attorneys for both sides. Emil Bove, a lawyer for Trump, claimed that by appointing special counsels to prosecute some criminal matters, the Justice Department was running the risk of establishing a “shadow government.”
Bove used the phrase “shadow government” to characterize a scenario in which subpar officers are appointed to positions of authority without Senate confirmation.
“These are the risks we are running,” he stated.
Prosecutors claimed that there was nothing strange or inappropriate about Smith’s appointment, citing Smith team member James Pearce’s statement that “we are in compliance” at one point. We have adhered to every policy of the department.
