It has been noted that Special Counsel Jack Smith has filed a motion in the District Court for the District of Columbia on Friday night seeking a limited gag order on former President Donald Trump.
The filing cites a Sept. 22 post by Trump on his Truth Social platform stating that Ret. Gen. Mark Milley, the former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, committed treason and that “in times gone by,” he would have been put to death.
Milley is a witness in Trump’s D.C. criminal case, where the former president is under indictment for attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The general served under Trump at the time.
“On September 22, on Truth Social, the defendant falsely claimed that the retiring Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a witness cited in the indictment, had committed treason and suggested that he should be executed,” the filing reads. “On September 23, on Truth Social, the defendant re-posted with the caption ‘What a mess!’”
The motion notes that Trump accused Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger of engaging in a cover-up to hide thousands of fraudulent votes.
“[T]here is no legitimate need for the defendant, in the course of his campaign, to attack known witnesses regarding the substance of their anticipated testimony,” Assistant Special Counsel Molly Gaston wrote in the filing.
Smith’s request comes two days after the judge in the case, Judge Tanya Chutkan, denied a motion by Trump’s attorneys to recuse herself because of remarks she made while sentencing defendants who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
