The Justice Department urged in a August 5-evening court filing that a federal judge in Washington impose firm rules on Donald Trump and his attorneys as they review materials during the discovery process for his trial, citing, in part, the former president’s history of revealing details about cases on social media, Report informs referring to The Washington Post.
The government and Trump’s lawyers are working out proposed rules that the former president and his legal team must adhere to when they review evidence materials during the discovery process, or when the defense team reviews all the evidence that the government has collected in the case. It is a standard part of the legal process, and a judge must sign off on the agreement. Evidence that is handed over in the discovery process includes grand jury interviews, recordings and materials obtained through sealed search warrants.
The government’s proposed agreement — called a protective order — dictates that Trump and his lawyers not disclose any of the materials they receive during the discovery process to people who are not authorized by the court to have knowledge of the materials.
Prosecutors said that while the agreement is not stricter than ones in standard criminal cases, it is particularly important in this case because Trump has posted on social media about judges, lawyers and witnesses involved in the multiple ongoing cases in which he is a defendant.