Jack Smith Advocates For Juror Protection In Trump's Election Interference Trial, Cites Ex-President's Track Record Of Social Media Intimidation

In anticipation of former President Donald Trump’s election interference trial, Special Counsel Jack Smith is advocating for measures to guard potential jurors from public identification and possible harassment.

What Happened: Smith made a plea to D.C. Judge Tanya Chutkan, as relayed in a Rolling Stone report on Tuesday, for the establishment of “reasonable boundaries […] of prohibiting public identification of potential or selected jurors.” Citing Trump’s track record of using social media to intimidate and the probable public interest in the trial, Smith justified his request.

Among the measures Smith proposed are utilizing a preliminary questionnaire for jury selection, restricting research into potential jurors to publicly available information, limiting social media interactions with potential jurors, and setting guidelines against the public dissemination of jurors’ names or any identifying details.

The trial, wherein Trump faces four criminal charges related to his attempt to overturn the 2020 election results, is scheduled to commence jury selection in December. Smith’s call for juror protection echoes a recent instance in which a New York Judge issued a partial gag order on Trump following his public targeting of a court staff member.

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Smith, apprehensive about potential social media research on prospective jurors considering Trump’s past behavior, emphasized the necessity for the Court to implement the proposed safeguards.

Why It Matters: This call for juror protection follows a series of events marking a contentious relationship between Trump and Smith. In September 2023, Smith accused Trump of making statements that could potentially influence the jury’s decision in the 2020 election subversion case, as per a Benzinga report .

Trump denounced Smith as a “deranged” prosecutor and criticized a proposed gag order in his D.C. election case, aimed at limiting what he could publicly state about the proceedings, according to another Benzinga report .

The jury selection process for Trump’s trial will be a focal point in the coming weeks, as it will be indicative of how the Court responds to Smith’s request for juror protection measures.

Photo by Joseph Sohm on Shutterstock

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