The ink has only just dried on U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon's rejection of a bid by Republican state attorneys general to intervene against special counsel Jack Smith's request for a gag order on former President Donald Trump in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case — and now another Trump ally is trying it himself, reported Law & Crime.
"America First Legal Foundation (AFL), like the AGs that U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon rejected, advanced the argument that the special counsel’s attempt to modify Trump’s pretrial release conditions by imposing a gag order and 'prior restraint' on speech during his reelection campaign 'practically ignores' the First Amendment," reported Matt Naham. "AFL, for whom Miller serves as president, is now seeking Cannon’s permission to weigh in as an amicus curiae, Latin for friend of the court, having filed a proposed brief that supports the arguments of Trump’s defense."
Smith is seeking the gag order due to Trump's promotion of conspiracy theories that the FBI was trying to assassinate him during their search for classified documents at his country club, based on boilerplate deadly force guidelines in the search warrant that are added to every FBI operation.
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“The government has moved the Court to impose conditions of release on President Trump that would interfere with his First Amendment free-speech rights. The government claims to do so in the name of safety and to avoid prejudice to this proceeding,” stated AFL's brief. “But the government falls far short of overcoming the constitutional scrutiny that applies to its request for a prior restraint on President Trump’s speech.”
America First Legal has been involved in a number of politically-charged cases on behalf of far-right causes, including to strike down a Biden administration program to assist historically oppressed Black farmers as racist against white farmers.
While Cannon did reject the original AG request to intervene in the case, she has also extensively dragged out the gag order process far more than any other judge who has overseen a Trump case with a gag order has, allowing several constitutional experts to give arguments for and against the move, which is highly unusual for a motion of this type.
It's part of a broader pattern of Cannon, herself a Trump appointee who has repeatedly clashed with Smith and made interventions on behalf of Trump, dragging out the case indefinitely by sitting on motions and allowing disputes to go unresolved for long periods of time.
Earlier this week, new reporting revealed that multiple federal judges advised Cannon to step back from the case owing to her lack of experience, and she refused to do so.