The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s prosecution for retaining classified documents expressed reservations on Monday about modifying the former president’s bail conditions to prevent him from making statements that could endanger FBI agents, suggesting that redacting their names in filings was enough. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon repeatedly admonished prosecutor David Harbach, saying she did not appreciate his tone and suggesting if he could not check his frustration, another prosecutor should make arguments instead. The hearing in in Fort Pierce, Fla. was a bruising day for prosecutors as the judge expressed skepticism at needing to change Trump’s bail conditions and questioned the strength of their evidence, reports The Guardian.
The latest dispute over Trump’s inflammatory statements stems from his false characterization of the FBI’s lethal force policy when agents executed a court-authorized search warrant at the Mar-a-Lago club in August 2022 and retrieved more than 100 classified documents. The order, which limits FBI agents to use deadly force only if they face extreme danger. used standard language that is routinely used in hundreds of warrants. Trump and some allies claimed that the FBI was authorized by the Biden administration to shoot him when they searched Mar-a-Lago, even though Trump was not there during the search. Prosecutors asked Cannon to revise Trump’s bail conditions to prohibit him from making any public comments “that pose a significant, imminent and foreseeable danger to law enforcement agents participating in the investigation”. Cannon on Monday appeared unimpressed with prosecutors’ argument.
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