Fort Pierce - Monday June 17, 2024: U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon has denied a motion by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and 23 other State Attorneys General.
The motion sought permission to file a Friend-of-the-Court brief (aka Amici Curiae brief) in opposition to the Special Prosecutor's amended request for an order forbidding ex-President Trump from making any further statements in the Fort Pierce classified documents case.
The Special Prosecutor has asked the Judge to impose a limited gag order on the ex-president arguing that statements Trump has made have endangered law enforcement. Trump is already under gag orders in his two other felony criminal cases.
Judge Cannon's paperless order was posted on PACER Monday morning. It states:
PACER: 06/17/2024 624 PAPERLESS ORDER denying 623 Motion for Leave to File Brief as Amicus Curiae in Opposition to Special Counsel's Motion to Modify Conditions of Release 592 . Signed by Judge Aileen M. Cannon on 6/17/2024. (jf01) (Entered: 06/17/2024) denied.
Last month, on May 24th, the Special Prosecutor asked Judge Aileen Cannon to modify Trump’s conditions of release by ordering the former President not to make any further statements that endanger law enforcement. On May 28th Judge Cannon temporarily denied the Special Prosecutor's initial request on procedural grounds saying the prosecution failed to properly inform Trump’s lawyers before making their request. She wrote that the motion was “wholly lacking in substance and professional courtesy.” Two days later, the Special Prosecutor re-filed the motion, pointing out that Trump's defense lawyers had been consulted prior to their motion for a limited gag order.
Trump has falsely claimed that FBI agents were prepared to kill him during their search for classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. In fact, the FBI took the unusual step of negotiating the terms of their search with Trump's attorneys, provided advance notice of when the search would take place, and ensured that neither Trump or members of his family would be at Mar-a-Lago on the day of the search. Boiler plate language, included in every FBI search order, does include authorization for FBI agents to be armed, but forbids them from using their weapons, unless they are confronted by deadly force.
The Special Prosecutor's motion to modify Trump's release conditions asks Judge Cannon to order Trump not to make any further statements that "pose a significant, imminent, and foreseeable danger to law enforcement agents participating in the investigation and prosecution of this case."
Included in the motion are post's, like the ones seen here, which Trump has made on his Truth Social account.
The Special Prosecutor argues that such statements have “endangered law enforcement officers involved in the investigation and prosecution of this case.”
Earlier today, prior to Judge Cannon's rejection of the Attorney Generals 'Friend-of-the-Court' brief, Florida Attorney General Moody issued a news release saying that she "is leading a multi-state coalition of attorneys generals in fighting to support President Trump's First Amendment rights."
In her release Moody states: “Once again, we are witnessing a prosecutor seek to keep the presumptive Republican nominee for President from speaking in the midst of an election. The First Amendment, at its core, is designed to protect political speech, and I along with my colleagues will not stand idly by and watch the Biden administration trample the free speech of a Florida citizen.”
In addition to Florida's AG, the following state's Attorneys General joined in filing the rejected 'Friend-of-the-Court' brief: Iowa and West Virginia spearheading the brief, is joined by the attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.