Donald Trump Calls Jack Smith ‘Deranged Thug Prosecutor’ as He Vows to Keep Talking About Criminal Cases

Former President Donald Trump launched a fresh spate of attacks against special prosecutor Jack Smith.

Even as prosecutors sought a protective order to restrict the evidence that the former president and his lawyers might reveal in public, Trump pledged to keep talking about his criminal prosecutions and insulted Smith in a rally on August 8. Trump attacked Smith as a “thug prosecutor” and a “deranged guy” in New Hampshire, a week after he was charged with serious felonies for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the run-up to the insurgency at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, per HuffPost.

The former president hurled these scathing comments at Smith just days after the Department of Justice requested a judge to grant a protective order preventing Trump from publicly sharing information. Trump, according to federal prosecutors, wants to “try the case in the media rather than in the courtroom.” Trump's attorneys say that the potential injunction is excessively broad and would impede his First Amendment rights to free speech. A hearing about the protective order has been set for Friday morning.

Trump reiterated the sentiment about his First Amendment rights on stage on Tuesday. “I will talk about it. They’re not taking away my First Amendment,” Trump assured his fans during a rally held at a high school in the town of Windham, southeast of New Hampshire. “All of this will come up during this trial,” Trump said, referencing the debunked movie 2000 Mules, which made several unfounded claims about mail ballots, drop boxes, and ballot collection in the presidential election of 2020, per Reuters. Trump argued against the protective order, asserting that he must be able to respond to questions from reporters on the campaign trail about the case. 

The Justice Department charged Trump with coordinating a plot to impede the peaceful transfer of power in 2020. Prosecutors claimed that after receiving rejections from several persons in high positions, he continued to circulate lies about a stolen election in an effort to sow public distrust, putting the White House and people in danger, to stay in power. “There was never a second of any day that I didn’t believe that that election was rigged. It was a rigged election, and it was a stolen disgusting election and this country should be ashamed,” Trump said in the rally, repeating the unfounded claims.

Trump is preparing for a potential fourth indictment, in a case out of Fulton County, Georgia, for alleged efforts by him and his aides to illegally intervene in the state's 2020 election. Trump is already facing charges in Florida and New York. He is also involved in a number of civil court proceedings in addition to his criminal matters. Recent campaign finance records show that his political machine has already spent more than $40 million on legal expenses this year.

References:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/election-2024-trump-protective-order_n_64d2e929e4b03c1d7391428f

https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-usa-mules-idUSL2N2XJ0OQ