‘Failed to preserve critical evidence’: Trump motion could shake up Mar-a-Lago case after Jack Smith admits his office misled court about location of documents in seized boxes

Jack Smith, on the left; Donald Trump, on the right

Left: Jack Smith speaks about an indictment of former President Donald Trump, Aug. 1, 2023, at a Department of Justice office in Washington (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File); Right: Donald Trump speaks to members of the media before departing Manhattan criminal court, Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, Pool)

Attorneys representing Donald Trump in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case on Friday lambasted special counsel Jack Smith for seeking a gag order barring the former president from making public statements that may endanger law enforcement agents involved in the case, claiming it was unconstitutional and aimed at getting Joe Biden reelected.

“In Jack Smith’s most recent shocking display of overreach and disregard for the Constitution, the Special Counsel’s Office asks the Court to enter an unconstitutional gag order as one of the release conditions on the leading candidate in the 2024 presidential election,” the opposition motion states. “[T]he motion is a naked effort to impose totalitarian censorship of core political speech, under threat of incarceration, in a clear attempt to silence President Donald Trump’s arguments to the American people about the outrageous nature of this investigation and prosecution.”

The special counsel’s request for a gag order was submitted last month in response to Trump falsely claiming on Truth Social that the FBI had authorized the use of “deadly (lethal) force” and was prepared to shoot him during the raid of his Palm Beach estate.

The language Trump misleadingly referred to came from a recently unsealed order authorizing the raid, which the FBI says is boilerplate policy designed to limit agents use of force. In fact, federal authorities subsequently confirmed that the same policy was in place during the bureau’s search of President Biden’s home in Delaware.

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