Trump’s propensity for ‘zesty’ commentary central to protective order hearing: legal expert
August 08, 2023
Donald Trump’s propensity for “zesty” commentary will likely be at issue at a hearing over special counsel Jack Smith's request for a protective order in the Jan. 6 election conspiracy case, a legal expert said Tuesday.
Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Tom Dupree, during an appearance on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” predicted that Judge Tanya Chutkan will likely look for middle ground between the standard protective order that prosecutors are seeking and more liberal rules that would allow the former president to speak about his case.
“I think both sides have reasonable arguments here to be honest," he said. "I think that from the special counsel’s perspective, this is just from their view a standard protective order that they're asking the judge to approve, not that different from what you would impose in other cases,” Dupree said.
“I think from President Trump's perspective, he does see this as an infringement on his ability to offer public commentary. As we know this is not a typical criminal defendant who remains mum and follows the advice of his lawyers to stay silent. To the contrary, he enjoys offering pretty much running commentary, often zesty commentary, on the proceedings, on everything, the judge, his opponent, the special counsel. And so I think they're going to be pushing as hard as they can to have complete freedom to comment on the evidence.”
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Dupree said it’s unlikely Trump will be allowed to speak about his case without limits.
“My best guess here, Jake, is that the judge is going to come down somewhere in the middle. I'd be a little surprised that she approved what seems to be a pretty broad protective order that the special counsel is demanding,” Dupree said.
“But on the other hand, I can't imagine a world in which she gives President Trump free rein to continue commenting and to comment on evidence.”
Smith is asking for the protective order to limit what Trump can say about the case. He requested it after a Truth Social post from the president in which he said, "If you go after me, I'm coming after you!"
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