Trump Barred From Releasing Sensitive Evidence in Jan. 6 Case

WASHINGTON—A judge barred Donald Trump from publicizing sensitive evidence in the criminal case alleging that he conspired to undo his 2020 election loss, saying his presidential campaign doesn’t mean he should get special treatment.

“He’s a criminal defendant. He is going to have restrictions like every single other defendant,” U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said Friday during a hearing where prosecutors sparred with Trump’s lawyers over how much information the former president and his legal team can access and potentially publicly expose. 

“The existence of a political campaign is not going to have any impact on my decision,” Chutkan said. “I intend to keep politics out of this.”

The judge interrupted Trump’s lawyer, John Lauro, when he said the Justice Department’s goal was to interfere with Trump’s ability to run for president.

“I’m not going to accept that,” she said. “I have seen no evidence that this is politically motivated.”

Friday’s hearing—Chutkan’s first since being randomly assigned the case—focused on rules for how evidence turned over to Trump, known as discovery, could be accessed and publicized.

Four hours after the hearing ended, she issued a five-page protective order. Such orders are commonplace in criminal cases and typically draw little attention.

In her order, Chutkan declined to grant prosecutors’ request for a broad order that would bar the defense from disclosing or disseminating any discovery evidence.

She also rejected a request from Trump’s lawyers that they be allowed to share sensitive evidence, like grand jury transcripts and witness interviews, with consultants and volunteer attorneys. She instead limited disclosure to people Trump has formally employed to assist on the case, saying letting volunteer attorneys see sensitive evidence could lead to unauthorized disclosure of the materials.

Lauro said Trump may need to cite that information to adequately defend himself against political opponents on the campaign trail.

Chutkan responded: “The need for this criminal case to proceed in the normal order and protect witnesses and the integrity of the process means there are going to be limits on the defendant’s speech.” 

Trump earlier this month pleaded not guilty to four alleged crimes, including conspiring to defraud the U.S., obstructing an official proceeding and conspiring against the rights of voters. Prosecutors say Trump worked with a group of advisers and lawyers to subvert the will of American voters by trying to cling to power after his defeat in 2020, actions that culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

The Justice Department has proposed the trial start on Jan. 2, 2024, two weeks before the first votes in the Republican presidential primary will be cast in Iowa’s Jan. 15 caucuses. The Trump team hasn’t responded, and Chutkan hasn’t yet set a trial date.

Chutkan at times expressed an inclination to try the case as quickly as possible. She cautioned the lawyers to be careful about their public statements, adding that the risk of tainting the jury pool is a reason to move the case to trial.

“The more a party makes inflammatory statements about this case that could taint the jury pool or intimidate witnesses, the greater the urgency that we proceed to trial to ensure a jury pool from which we can select an impartial jury,” the judge said.

“I will take whatever measures are necessary to safeguard the integrity of these proceedings,” the judge added.

Friday’s hearing was the first of many expected battles over Trump’s rights and the integrity of the sprawling probe. Lauro expressed concern that an overly broad protective order would serve as a “contempt trap” under which Trump could unknowingly violate the terms.

“Trump, during the middle of a campaign, should not have that chill over him,” Lauro said. 

Chutkan, who was appointed to the federal bench by President Barack Obama, responded that she won’t give Trump “greater or lesser latitude” than any other defendant.

Lauro repeatedly said Trump would abide by the judge’s rules ahead of trial. “President Trump will scrupulously abide by the terms of his release,” he said.

The indictment in Washington charges Trump alone but describes six co-conspirators working with him, including lawyers identifiable as Rudy Giuliani and several others who worked with him to contest the 2020 results.

The 45-page document paints a detailed portrait of Trump’s efforts to press claims that the election had been marred by fraud, even though he had been repeatedly told that those claims had no merit, and attempts to convince officials in battleground states he had lost, including Arizona, Georgia and Michigan, to support his efforts.

In a separate federal case, Trump is facing charges that he improperly retained classified government documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, and obstructed the government’s efforts to retrieve them. Local prosecutors in New York have charged him with 34 felony counts related to a hush-money payment made to a porn star in the final stretch of the 2016 election. And the district attorney in Fulton County, Ga., also has been investigating Trump for election interference.

Write to Jan Wolfe at [email protected] and Sadie Gurman at [email protected]