Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall recently joined a multi-state brief arguing against the proposed gag order against former President Donald Trump in his federal criminal case regarding classified documents.
Trump was indicted last year after the FBI raided his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Fla., for allegedly compiling classified documents from his time in the presidency.
Trump received massive support from federal and state lawmakers in Alabama.
During the raid, Trump released the following statement:
“These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents. Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before. After I, working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate. It is prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don't want me to run for President in 2024, especially based on recent polls, and who will likewise do anything to stop Republicans and Conservatives in the upcoming Midterm Elections. Such an assault could only take place in broken, Third-World Countries. Sadly, America has now become one of those Countries, corrupt at a level not seen before. They even broke into my safe! What is the difference between this and Watergate, where operatives broke into the Democrat National Committee? Here, in reverse, Democrats broke into the home of the 45th President of the United States.”
After multiple statements made by Trump about the raid, the Department of Justice's specially appointed council, Jack Smith, asked the judge last month to make Trump's bond conditional on him no longer making statements "that pose a significant, imminent, and foreseeable danger to law enforcement agents participating in the investigation and prosecution of this case."
Marshall joined 23 other Republican attorneys general in arguing that Trump's statements are covered under the First Amendment of the Constitution.
"The American people deserve to hear from the presumptive Republican nominee for President of the United States on issues facing our country, including the Biden Administration's possible misuse of law enforcement to target his political rivals," Marshall said. "Biden's requested gag order is a desperate and shocking attempt to silence Trump and skew the election. Biden's Department of Justice is engaged in an unprecedented assault on Trump's First Amendment rights and liberties, and we will continue to hold the line against this radical political prosecution."
The coalition's letter argues that the proposed gag order is unclear, infringes on President Trump's free speech rights, and interferes with American voters' rights to hear what their candidate has to say leading into an election.
"President Donald Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee for President of the United States and is being prosecuted by a Department controlled by his chief political rival and presumptive opponent in this fall's election, President Joe Biden," the brief reads. "But attempting to take away President Trump's liberty is seemingly insufficient. The Administration now also seeks to silence him from criticizing the prosecution."
"The government's request is an unprecedented assault on President Trump's First Amendment rights, as well as on the American people's essential reciprocal right to hear what he has to say about the most heated political issue of the day."
Iowa, Florida and West Virginia co-led the brief. They were joined by Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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