BREAKING: Special Counsel Jack Smith brings down the hammer on Donald Trump and formally urges the judge to throw Trump in jail because Trump is using social media to upend her case and intimidate witnesses.
But it gets even worse for Trump...
The brief filed by Smith's team meticulously lays out numerous remarks Trump has made since the gag order was suspended last Friday — and some of them are absolutely horrific. Some were even clearly designed to illegally influence witness testimony.
The brief also suggests stiffer penalties including actual jail time if Trump violates the order.
Additionally, the brief requests that Judge Tanya Chutkan modify the conditions of Trump's release to make it explicitly clear that his existing ban on communication with witnesses "includes indirect messages to witnesses made publicly on social media or in speeches."
Trump has repeatedly used his failed right-wing social media website Truth Social to spread his smears and attacks.
"In the few days since the administrative stay has been in place, the defendant has returned to the very sort of targeting that the Order prohibits, including attempting to intimidate and influence foreseeable witnesses, and commenting on the substance of their testimony," wrote prosecutors.
"There has never been a criminal case in which a court has granted a defendant an unfettered right to try his case in the media, malign the presiding judge as a ‘fraud’ and a ‘hack,’ attack the prosecutor as ‘deranged’ and a ‘thug,’ and, after promising witnesses and others, ‘IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU,’ target specific witnesses with attacks on their character and credibility, even suggesting that one witness’s actions warrant the ‘punishment’ of ‘DEATH!’" they went on.
Prosecutors also destroyed Trump's bad faith argument that the gag order violates his First Amendment rights and hurts his election prospects.
"The Order leaves the defendant entirely free to assert his innocence, claim that his prosecution is politically motivated, criticize the platforms and policies of his political opponents, and level all manner of criticism at various institutions and individuals, including the incumbent president and the Department of Justice," they wrote.
Judge Chutkan must heed the prosecutors' warning and lift the stay on the gag order. Justice is at stake.
