Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Donald Trump has a plan to thwart the federal election conspiracy case against him if a judge denies prosecutors’ request for a protective order.
“I think that he wants to be able to know what’s going on in the indictment with the grand jury so that he can derail the case,” Grisham, who served as Trump’s press secretary for nine months in 2019 and 2020, said on CNN Tuesday.
“He doubles down on everything. And if somebody tells him ‘no,’ then he’s immediately going to do the opposite,” she continued.
Special counsel Jack Smith’s team on Friday asked a judge for a protective order that would limit what Trump and his team can say publicly about evidence in the case, in which he faces four felony charges over his attempt to overturn the 2020 election.
The prosecution argued that Trump’s record of inflammatory social media activity raises concerns he may share sensitive information that could have a “harmful chilling effect on witnesses.”
Trump and his lawyers have pushed back, arguing the order would restrict Trump’s First Amendment rights to free speech. A hearing is scheduled for Friday.
According to Grisham, prosecutors’ request serves as motivation for Trump to do the opposite.
“I can almost guarantee you that if the judge rules in Trump’s favor, he will absolutely put things out there in an attempt to derail the case, because that only makes it drag out longer,” she said.
“Give him more time to potentially win the election and then drop all the charges against himself.”
Trump on Tuesday vowed to keep talking about his case. “They’re not taking away my First Amendment,” he said at a New Hampshire rally.
The courts placed Trump under similar protective orders following his two other indictments, tied to his handling of classified documents after leaving office and hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels.