Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a political rally while campaigning for the GOP nomination in the 2024 election at Erie Insurance Arena on July 29, 2023 in Erie, Pennsylvania. Photo: Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

Prosecutors sought the protective order after a social media post by the former president, who last week pleaded not guilty to four criminal counts accusing him of subverting the Constitution. Trump wrote, “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I'M COMING AFTER YOU!” And while prosecutors pointed to the post as part of a pattern of the former president posting about ongoing cases – and sometimes going after judges and attorneys in the process – the former president’s team was quick to call the comments “the definition of political speech,” while suggesting that it came in response to matters outside of the 2020 election case.

Facing a Monday deadline to respond, Trump’s lawyers argued against a “blanket gag order” over all documents produced by the court in their response to prosecutors’ call for a protective order. The former president's attorneys said the court should limit the order to “genuinely sensitive materials,” while expanding who has access to them.

“To facilitate the efficient production of discovery to the defense, the Government proposed a reasonable protective order consistent with current practice in this District,” the Department of Justice said in an after-hours filing Monday. “The defendant instead proposed an order designed to allow him to try this case in the media rather than in the courtroom.”

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a quick reply, calling for additional arguments on the matter to be scheduled by the end of the day Wednesday, with the hearing itself to occur before the end of the week. After the Justice Department offered availability any day this week for the hearing, the Trump team moved to delay the hearing until early next week, citing a scheduling conflict on Thursday, while noting that “we lost Friday as an option.”

Nevertheless, Chutkan set the hearing for Friday at 10 a.m., where she will hear arguments over the protective order before making a decision on how to proceed. Trump is not expected to attend.