The federal judge in former President Donald Trump's classified documents case rejected a request Tuesday from prosecutors to prohibit him from commenting on FBI agents who seized the records at Mar-a-Lago. She also refused a defense request to hold the prosecutors in contempt merely for requesting the order.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon found Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith's urgent request Friday for the gag order "wholly lacking in substance in professional courtesy." She ruled that prosecutors should have taken time to meet with Trump's lawyers, as the Trump team requested, to address the defense's concerns.
"Any future, non-emergency motion brought in this case − whether on the topic of release conditions or anything else − shall not be filed absent meaningful, timely, and professional conferral," Cannon wrote. "Failure to comply with these requirements may result in sanctions."
A spokesperson for Smith's team declined to comment on Cannon's ruling.