🇺🇸 Protective Order

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The Flag

Good morning, and happy Wednesday. A Meals on Wheels volunteer went above and beyond to serve one of her meal recipients by learning another language. Now she’s being recognized for it in a first-of-its-kind award. What language did she learn?

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TRENDING

Left: DeSantis Says Trump Rigged 2020 Election for Biden Ed Kilgore, New York Magazine

Right: Biden Impeachment Inquiry Virtually Guaranteed Newt Gingrich, Washington Times

Right: Everybody Hates Mitch McConnell Andy Laperriere, Wall Street Journal

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DeSantis Shakeup, LA Workers Strike, Scouts Evacuated

US: DeSantis replaces his campaign manager as he resets his faltering 2024 presidential bid (AP)

US: Florida school district says trans employees can’t use pronouns, bathrooms that match their gender identity (The Hill)

US: Tens of thousands still without power after deadly storms as a new wave of severe weather and flooding hits (CNN)

US: Thousands of Los Angeles city workers walk off job for 24 hours alleging unfair labor practices (AP)

US: Uvalde shooter's cousin arrested in San Antonio for threatening to shoot a school (NPR)

World: South Korea evacuates thousands of Scouts from coastal campsite as tropical storm nears (AP)

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DOJ

Protective Order Predicament

On Friday, Special Counsel Jack Smith asked US District Judge Tanya Chutkan to issue a protective order that would limit former President Donald Trump's ability to share evidence related to an upcoming trial. Smith is claiming the Trump team is attempting to "try the case in the media rather than in the courtroom."

Reporting from the Left: Trump Lawyers Fight Order That Would Limit What He Can Say About Jan. 6 Evidence (Huff Post)

Reporting from the Right: Trump team ordered to respond to Special Counsel Jack Smith's protective order filing (Fox News)

From The Flag: The request for the protective order was made in relation to the most recent indictment against Trump for his alleged role in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. Lawyers for Trump have submitted a court filing to oppose a proposed protective order they say would limit Trump's First Amendment rights.

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Trump’s Use of Social Media is Concerning

  • Smith is drawing attention to Trump’s longstanding habit of attacking those involved in criminal cases against him.

  • This move by the prosecution and the defense’s response is indicative of each side’s approach.

  • Smith is prepared to hand over a “substantial” amount of evidence to Trump’s defense team, but they argue the order is too restrictive on what can and cannot be shared with the public.

Jan. 6 Prosecutors Ask for Protective Order, Citing Threatening Trump Post Feuer & Haberman, The New York Times: “The federal prosecutors overseeing the indictment of former President Donald J. Trump on charges of seeking to overturn the 2020 election asked a judge on Friday night to impose a protective order over the discovery evidence in the case, citing a threatening message that Mr. Trump had posted on social media. By mentioning the incendiary post in an otherwise routine request seeking to keep Mr. Trump from making evidence public, the prosecutors in the office of the special counsel, Jack Smith, were drawing the attention of the judge, Tanya S. Chutkan, to Mr. Trump’s longstanding habit of attacking those involved in criminal cases against him. ‘IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!’ he wrote. Shortly after, in a standard move early in a criminal prosecution, the government filed its request for a protective order in the case to Judge Chutkan.”

Fight over Trump Jan. 6 secrecy order marks start of race to trial Spencer S. Hsu, The Washington Post: “…Trump’s defense team complained the government’s proposed limits were too broad, claiming they would infringe on the First Amendment rights of President Biden’s ‘primary political opponent.’ … The skirmish over the typically routine matter of a protective order is an early sign of how vigorously both sides will argue over how quickly the case should head toward trial. Prosecutors have indicated they want to try Trump as soon as possible, while Trump’s team is likely to push for delays at every step. … Looming over the fight is the 2024 presidential election calendar, the assumption that the Justice Department would prefer to see a trial wrapped up before the GOP presidential nomination convention next summer… Legal analysts say the race to trial — both in the election interference case and in a second special counsel prosecution of Trump related to classified documents — is key to understanding how each side maneuvers.”

One more opinion piece from the Left: Trump's attorneys argue for narrower protective order in 2020 election case Caitlin Yilek, CBS News

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Smith Is Trying to Silence Trump

  • Trump’s defense team criticized the order as “overboard” and an attempt to significantly “restrict [Trump’s] First Amendment rights.”

  • According to Trump’s attorney, Smith is trying to silence President Biden’s top political opponent ahead of the 2024 election.

  • Trump’s defense attorney Alina Habba accuses Smith of attempting to play the victim with this order, showing that he’s afraid.

Trump rejects Jack Smith's protective order as 'overbroad,' violation of First Amendment Ashley Oliver, Washington Examiner: “Trump's attorneys argued Smith's protective order, which prosecutors typically use to dictate how discovery is handled in a case, was ‘overbroad’ and accused the Department of Justice of seeking to ‘restrict First Amendment rights’ with it. Protecting certain discoveries ‘does not require a blanket gag order over all documents produced by the government,’ Trump's defense team wrote. His lawyers added, ‘Rather, the Court can, and should, limit its protective order to genuinely sensitive materials — a less restrictive alternative that would satisfy any government interest in confidentiality while preserving the First Amendment rights of President Trump and the public.’ … Trump's attorneys also took issue with Smith's request that discovery materials be made to certain people on his defense team, such as his lawyers. Trump may, however, want to enlist ‘volunteer attorneys or others without paid employment arrangements to assist with the preparation of this case,’ his attorneys wrote.”

Trump Lawyers Accuse Jack Smith of Trying to Silence Biden’s Top Political Opponent Brittany Bernstein, National Review: “‘In a court filing on Monday, attorneys for Donald Trump requested changes be made to a proposed protective order in the federal case concerning the former president’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Trump’s attorneys argue that special counsel Jack Smith is trying to silence President Biden’s top political opponent ahead of the 2024 election. … ‘In a trial about First Amendment rights, the government seeks to restrict First Amendment rights,’ Trump’s lawyers write in the filing. ‘Worse, it does so against its administration’s primary political opponent, during an election season in which the administration, prominent party members, and media allies have campaigned on the indictment and proliferated its false allegations.’ It goes on to say that Biden has “capitalized on the indictment, posting a thinly veiled reference to his administration’s prosecution of President Trump just hours before arraignment.’”

One more opinion piece from the Right: Trump lawyer says DOJ request for protective order a result of Jack Smith playing the victim Eden Villalovas, Washington Examiner

FLAG THIS

Americans Sharply Divided on Indictment

Following the latest indictment, a CBS News/YouGov poll from Sunday showed half of American voters think former President Donald Trump tried to stay in office illegally, putting democracy at risk. However, another third believes his efforts to overturn the 2020 election were legal.

Sharply divided along party lines, the poll found 57% of Americans see last week’s federal indictment of the former president as upholding the rule of law while 52% said it was upholding democracy.

Roughly the same number (or 59%) said they thought the indictment was an attempt to stop Trump’s presidential campaign. That sentiment was particularly strong among 86% of Republicans (Daily News).

Do you agree or disagree that Jack Smith's protective order request would infringe on Trump's First Amendment rights?

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FLAG FINDS

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WATERCOOLER

Nagasaki Bombed, Resurrecting Friendships, Poor “Phoneside” Manner

Urakami Tenshudo, a Catholic Church in Nagasaki, was destroyed by the bomb.

On This Day in 1945: A second atom bomb is dropped on Japan by the United States, at Nagasaki, resulting finally in Japan’s unconditional surrender.

Today I learned the first telephone switchboard operators were boys, but their "rude and abusive" behavior led them to be replaced by young women.

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