THE AMERICA ONE NEWS
Jun 5, 2025  |  
0
 | Remer,MN
Sponsor:  QWIKET 
Sponsor:  QWIKET 
Sponsor:  QWIKET: Elevate your fantasy game! Interactive Sports Knowledge.
Sponsor:  QWIKET: Elevate your fantasy game! Interactive Sports Knowledge and Reasoning Support for Fantasy Sports and Betting Enthusiasts.
back  
topic
Eden Villalovas, Breaking News Reporter


NextImg:Trump lawyer says DOJ request for protective order a result of Jack Smith playing the victim

Former President Donald Trump's attorney Alina Habba said special counsel Jack Smith is trying to be “a bit of a victim” regarding a proposed protective order Trump's team rejected Monday.

“We don't necessarily always object, but this one is different because this is Jack Smith trying to be a bit of a victim,” Habba said on Fox News on Monday. She defended the former president for agreeing to protective orders in the past, adding, “It's more [Smith] being afraid if you look at it closely.”

HOW DEBATE CAN BE MAKE OR BREAK FOR CANDIDATES

“We have two protective orders that we don't object to which say that there will be protections for the witnesses and protections for the evidence that come out, especially when they're classified,” Habba said.

The Department of Justice moved to file a protective order last month in the classified documents case, which a judge granted, saying Trump can only have access to discovery materials from his Mar-a-Lago estate under the direct supervision of defense counsel or their staff.

“The protective order is in terms of witness testimony exhibits. Those aren't necessarily things we've ever disagreed to, and President Trump's never violated that if you look historically,” Habba said.

During his arraignment last week on Thursday for federal charges of attempting to overturn the 2020 election results, a magistrate judge in Washington, D.C., told the former president not to discuss the case with any witnesses without attorneys present.

The following day, Trump issued a comment on his Truth Social website: "IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU."

Prosecutors on Friday requested that U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan issue a protective order concerning Trump’s social media usage in the case.

Their argument for the order was that if Trump began posting details of the case, such as grand jury transcripts, “it could have a harmful chilling effect on witnesses or adversely affect the fair administration of justice in this case.”

When asked if anyone reviewed Trump's social media posts before he hit send, Habba said she ultimately couldn't speak to the matter, adding he’s “a grown man and he does as he wishes.”

“The president obviously has access to his social media,” Habba said. “There's a system in place, meaning that we have a ton of communications people as we know, but in terms of what he does day by day, minute by minute, I can't speak to that.”

Trump's attorneys pushed to extend the deadline, but the move was denied by Chutkan, and they denied Smith's order by a deadline of 5 p.m. on Monday.

Trump's legal team claimed that the order is overly broad and the judge should impose a more limited protective order to cover only sensitive materials.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Although Habba is not the attorney on the 2020 election case, she believes the other lawyer’s response will be “fair,” emphasizing the team doesn't have “issues with certain parts of [the protective order].”

“But to put a gag order, I will say, on a candidate for president who is under attack and to say that he can't respond to people that are attacking him is unconstitutional, and I would suspect that something is going to be in line with that,” Habba said.