Right-wing podcaster files bizarre claim to Judge Cannon in effort to stop Trump gag order
A conservative influencer has told Judge Aileen Cannon that special counsel Jack Smith's requested gag order is unconstitutional because he has yet to interview Donald Trump, court records show.
Good Lawgic host Joseph Nierman filed Tuesday an amicus brief in the former president's federal classified documents case arguing Smith's demand violates the rights of his thousands of listeners.
"Good Lawgic has already once been turned down for media requests due to the gag order imposed on [former] President Trump in New York," he writes. "Good Lawgic anticipates...[former] President Trump being compelled to turn down Good Lawgic’s media requests should a Special Counsel Jack Smith’s gag order request be granted."
The request in question is tied to Trump's false claim last month that routine language in the FBI's Mar-a-Lago search warrant proved agents had been granted permission to assassinate him.
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Smith argues Trump's "grossly misleading" claims not only put court proceedings at risk, but the safety of FBI agents who have already faced violent threats against their families.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges that he violated the Espionage Act by storing classified documents — newly revealed to have scattered "haphazardly" in a cluttered collection of cardboard boxes in his Mar-a-Lago social club.
Nierman is a New York litigator who's near-nightly show has garnered nearly 100,000 subscribers on his YouTube Good Lawgic channel and nearly 50,000 followers on X. He recently raised more than $27,000 in a crowdsourcing campaign to "ungag Trump."
On Tuesday, Nierman argued Smith's request will bar him from engaging in "critical news gathering" of public importance.
"It is essential to recognize that everything that [former] President Trump says is newsworthy and is entitled to the highest available constitutional protection," he writes.
“If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is the principle that the government may not interfere with an uninhibited marketplace of ideas.”
The filing includes questions Nierman sent to Trump's press office that was met with a comment from spokesperson Steven Cheung railing against the "unconstitutional gag order" placed on the former president in his hush money case.
"Please identify any Assistant District Attorneys, prosecuting the case against you, who you believe are motivated by political bias or corrupt personal interest rather than obtaining justice," he asked.
"Due to the unconstitutional gag order imposed by Judge Juan Merchan on President Trump and his winning campaign, we cannot comment on the specifics of your inquiry," Chueng replied.