Lawyers for former President Donald Trump have sought additional time to respond to the Justice Department’s motion for a protective order in his ongoing criminal case regarding the 2020 Presidential election.
On the court: On August 5, Trump’s legal team requested a three-day extension to respond to the Justice Department’s motion for a protective order, which was filed the day before.
* U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan had given Trump’s attorneys until 5 p.m. Monday to respond to the motion.
* Negotiating this protective order is a crucial move before the government can proceed with the discovery process and outline a trial and defense timeline.
Understanding Protective Orders: A protective order limits what the defendant and their lawyers can do with discovery material, which prosecutors are obligated to share pre-trial.
* The intention is to ensure this information is solely used to prepare for trial, and they are often used in criminal cases to prevent sensitive information from being publicly disclosed.
* After a protective order is issued, the defense can request the judge to modify or remove it at any stage.
DOJ’s Intent: In Trump’s case, prosecutors are striving to restrict the disclosure of discovery materials such as witness interviews to a select group of people, including defense-assistance hires, potential witnesses, their attorneys, and others approved by the court.
* However, according to Stanford Law School professor David Sklansky, this does not aim to silence Trump but to protect the utilization of information provided in discovery.
The Consequences: Violation of a protective order could result in court contempt, though typically a first offense might just receive a warning.
* David Rossein from CUNY School of Law believes that if the prosecution and defense fail to agree on the terms, the judge in Trump’s case will likely need to play an active role in drafting the protective order’s language.
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