Wintry mix Thursday night, another storm Friday

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

Lawyers for former President Donald Trump were denied an extension in responding to the Justice Department's motion for a protective order on Saturday evening. They had asked for more time to respond to the order.

The order would limit what discovery evidence Trump could share publicly about the ongoing criminal case related to the 2020 presidential election.

Federal prosecutors filed the motion on Friday night — just hours after Trump suggested on 

 that he would take revenge on anyone who goes after him. 

 gave Trump's legal team until 5 p.m. Monday to respond to the prosecutor's motion. Trump's attorneys responded with a request for a three-day extension, which was then denied by a judge. 

Negotiating the protective order is a critical step for the government before they can begin the discovery process and determine a trial date and timeline for the defense case. 

In his third criminal case of the year, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination pleaded 

 on four felony charges that he attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The magistrate judge has set the first hearing for Aug. 28.

Before a trial, prosecutors are obligated to turn over evidence with defense attorneys. This is known as discovery. 

A protective order places limits on what the defendant and their lawyer can do with the discovery material once it's in their possession. The purpose is to ensure that the information is only used to help the defense prepare for trial. 

Protective orders are commonly used criminal cases, in order to prevent the disclosure of sensitive information about investigative tactics, cooperating witnesses or national security, according to David Sklansky, a professor at Stanford Law School. 

"It's a case-by-case decision by the judge about whether there's reason to fear that disseminating information could be harmful to the public, to national security, to potential witnesses," Sklansky said.

After a protective order is issued, the defense has the opportunity to ask the judge to remove or modify it at anytime. 

What does the Justice Department want to prevent Trump from doing?

 In Trump's election case, prosecutors are seeking to only allow Trump and his attorneys disclose discovery materials, like witness interviews, to a select group of people — those hired to help with their defense, potential witnesses, witnesses' lawyers and others approved by the court. 

That means that Trump will likely still have free rein to talk about the case and the prosecutors, according to Sklansky, a former prosecutor.

"This is not an effort to silence Trump. It is not an effort to stop Trump from talking about the case," he said. "It's an effort to protect the use of information that's provided in discovery."

How is a protective order different from a gag order?

 address different concerns. Protective orders relate to concerns of how the defense may handle sensitive or confidential information shared with them as part of discovery. 

Gag orders place restrictions on what the defendant and their attorney can and cannot discuss outside the courtroom. They are typically issued to control the flow of information and prevent jury bias in order to ensure a fair trial.

What happens if a defendant violates a protective order?

A person who violates a protective order could be held in contempt of court. But more likely, that person will receive a warning for the first offense, according to Rick Rossein, a professor at the CUNY School of Law. 

"It would be unusual for a judge to jail somebody for a first violation, but they certainly have the right to do that," he said.

Rossein suspects that the judge in Trump's election case will play an even more  active role in the motion for a protective order if the prosecution and defense are not able to agree on the terms.

"The judge is going to have to actually be very involved in crafting the actual language of the protective order," he said. "This will become the judge's protective order." 

Crime, Law and Justice

Courts

Politics and Government News

Homepage

Juliana Kim

Author

The protective order would limit what information the former president could share publicly about the ongoing criminal case related to the 2020 presidential election.

Trump lawyers denied extension for responding to DOJ's protective order

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox