Judge BANS Trump from sharing information in Mar-a-Lago classified documents case
Donald Trump has been banned from publicly sharing information in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case after his dramatic Miami arraignment last week.
The order from U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart also put strict conditions on Trump’s access to the materials.
The former president can only view evidence in the presence of his lawyers and cannot post anything on social media or mention it during interviews.
It includes Truth Social, where he has posted attacks on Special Counsel Jack Smith in the two weeks since he announced he had been indicted over allegations he illegally moved files on the nation’s biggest secrets to his Florida club.
The restrictions are similar to those put on him in the Stormy Daniels hush money prosecution in Manhattan.
If Trump violates the order, he could face contempt of court charges or criminal sanctions.
It is the latest development in the first federal prosecution of a former president and comes after a DailyMail.com/J.L. Partners poll found most Americans think it was right to indict him.
Donald Trump has been banned from publicly sharing information in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case after his Miami arraignment last week. The former president speaks at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club after his historic Miami court appearance
Last week, Trump also called for the charges to be thrown out, claiming he was allowed take classified documents from the White House.
‘The Discovery materials, along with any information derived therefrom, shall not be disclosed to the public or the news media, or disseminated on any news or social media platform, without prior notice to and consent of the United States or approval of the Court,’ the order filed on Monday said.
The order granted a motion filed last week by prosecutors who had asked the court to put conditions on how the defense stores and uses the documents.
Trump, who is the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, was indicted on federal charges earlier this month.
He was accused of illegally retaining classified government documents after leaving the White House and then conspiring to obstruct a federal probe of the matter.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all 37 counts in court.
The former president faces other legal hurdles, having been indicted by New York prosecutors earlier this year in the Daniels case.
He is due in court in March 2024, in the middle of his presidential campaign.
Special Counsel Smith, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, is also probing Trump’s alleged role in actions surrounding his loss in the 2020 presidential election that culminated in the January 6 Capitol Riot.
Trump’s prosecution has split the nation on political lines, but results of the DailyMail.com/J.L. Partners poll released over the weekend suggests how it might play into the 2024 election.
Of 1,000 respondents, some 46 percent thought it was ‘very reasonable’ to charge Trump. Another nine percent said it was ‘fairly reasonable.’
That compares with 31 percent who said it was ‘very unreasonable’ and nine percent who said it was ‘fairly unreasonable.’
At the same time, 50 percent said it was politically motivated while 42 percent said it was not.
Boxes of potentially classified documents were discovered in a Mar-a-Lago bathroom by the DOJ
At the same time, a plurality of respondents — including independents — said they believed the case was politically motivate showing how the issue could play out in 2024
A new poll for DailyMail.com found that 54 percent of voters believed it was right that Trump was charged in federal court over the documents investigation
James Johnson, co-founder of polling firm J.L. Partners, said: ‘The average American voter’s verdict on Trump’s indictment is that he probably did something wrong, but that the charges are political.
‘This balance – a little more nuanced than many give voters are often given credit for – gives some indication of how the case might affect the 2024 race.
‘Make it a referendum on Trump’s behavior, and voters get reminded of what they see as his worst instincts.
‘But if the Trump campaign can succeed in making this about the system pursuing him for political gain, then independents and other key voters may yet side with the former president on the issue.’
Polling began as Trump flew from his New Jersey golf club to Miami for his court appearance.