Jack Smith destroys Trump defense in gag order filing: 'He demands special treatment'

Special counsel Jack Smith on Friday filed a reply to Donald Trump in the debate over whether a D.C. judge should impose a narrow gag order on the former president, who has been charged with election law violations.

Trump has argued that the gag order, even defined narrowly, would restrict his free speech and keep him from campaigning for president. He also said President Joe Biden ordered prosecutor Smith to go after him, but those claims have not yet been proven.

Now, Smith is hitting back on the gag order issue.

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In the filing, Smith says that Trump's opposition brief is "premised on inapplicable caselaw and false claims."

"[H]e demands special treatment, asserting that because he is a political candidate, he should have free rein to publicly intimidate witnesses and malign the court, citizens of this district, and prosecutors," Smith wrote. "But in this case, Donald J. Trump is a criminal defendant like any other."

Smith also reproduced Trump's Truth Social posts in the filing, including one in which Trump says his former top general, Mark Milley, might be deserving of "death."

You can read the full filing here.