By Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A federal judge on Friday granted former U.S. President Donald Trump leeway to publicly share some non-sensitive evidence that will be used in his trial on charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election, but she also warned him to tread carefully about making inflammatory public statements.
“Even arguably ambiguous statements by the parties or their counsel- if they can be reasonably be interpreted to intimidate witnesses or to prejudice potential jurors - can threaten the process," U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said on Friday.
“I caution you and your client to take special care in your public statements about this case. I will take whatever measures are necessary to safeguard the integrity of these proceedings.”
Chutkan's warning came at a federal court hearing on Friday where prosecutors and Trump's lawyers hashed out disagreements over how much evidence in the case Trump can share with the public.
Chutkan's decision to permit Trump to share some non-sensitive material went against the objections of prosecutors, who pointed to threatening messages Trump posted last week on social media as evidence that he might try to use details of the confidential evidence to intimidate witnesses.
The judge ruled that the government had not met its burden to show why all of the evidence should be subject to a "protective order," which safeguards evidence from being shared with the public in order to prevent witness intimidation or tainting a jury pool.
However, she warned that Trump is nevertheless subject to release conditions which ban him from intimidating witnesses and said she will be watching his statements and "scrutinizing them very carefully."
The government will still be allowed to petition the court for certain pieces of evidence to be covered by the order, and Chutkan also on Friday agreed with prosecutors and rejected an argument by Trump's lawyers that the hundreds of transcripts of witness interviews, recordings and related exhibits are sensitive and cannot be publicly shared.
“He is a criminal defendant. He is going to have restrictions like every single other defendant. This case is proceeding in the normal order,” Chutkan said.
“The fact the defendant is engaged in a political campaign is not going to allow him any greater or lesser latitude than any defendant in a criminal case."
It is standard practice for federal prosecutors to request protective orders before sharing evidence with defense lawyers to protect confidential records and ensure the integrity of the trial.
Often, defense lawyers do not oppose them because doing so slows down the government's production of evidence, a process known as "discovery," to help them prepare.
But Trump's attorneys argued that the scope of the protective order was too broad, and ran afoul of his free speech rights under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
"This kind of blanket order is extraordinary," Trump's lawyer John Lauro said on Friday. "We have to face the fact we are in uncharted waters."
Federal prosecutors revealed on Friday that they intend to soon release to Trump's defense team 11.6 million pages and records of evidence, in addition to a hard drive containing images extracted from electronic devices.
The charges at issue in Friday's hearing are one of three prosecutions currently targeting Trump, the clear front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential nomination race.
In Friday's case, he has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges that he orchestrated a plot to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election to keep himself in power.
“The existence of a political campaign is not going to have any bearing on my decision,” Chutkan said on Friday.
'I'M COMING AFTER YOU'
The government's request for a protective order cited a threatening message Trump posted last week on social media: "IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I'M COMING AFTER YOU."
"If the defendant were to begin issuing public posts using details — or, for example, grand jury transcripts — obtained in discovery here, it could have a harmful chilling effect on witnesses or adversely affect the fair administration of justice in this case," prosecutors wrote in their motion.
Since then, Trump has also attacked Smith's character as well as that of former Vice President Mike Pence, a key witness in the case, calling his former No.2 "delusional."
As a condition of his release, Trump agreed he would not try to intimidate or threaten any witnesses in the case.
Trump is separately facing a second set of charges brought by Smith's office in Florida for retaining highly classified records after leaving the White House and New York state charges over hush-money payments to a porn star.
He has pleaded not guilty in all three cases.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Scott Malone and Alistair Bell)
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