LAYING DOWN THE LAW

D.C. Judge Promises No ‘Politics’ as She Imposes Rules on Trump

Trump can access mountains of sensitive evidence but can’t scare witnesses involved in his D.C. criminal case, Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled Friday.

Former President Donald Trump can access mountains of sensitive evidence—with tight restrictions—but he cannot scare witnesses involved in the federal criminal case against him for his attempted 2020 election coup, a federal judge ruled on Friday. Inside a Washington courtroom, Judge Tanya Chutkan granted some of what Trump’s lawyers requested when she eased limitations on how Trump could view the evidence against him collected by Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith. But she still kept certain interviews marked “sensitive” to limit the potential danger, according to several journalists present during the proceedings. She noted her concern that Trump—who keeps using campaign speeches and social media posts to rage against prosecutors, judges, and associates helping investigators whom he considers disloyal—will resort to witness intimidation. “I intend to keep politics out of this,” she said, according to The Messenger’s Adam Klasfeld and The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg.