Special Counsel Jack Smith uses Trump’s appearance at gun store as a reason for gag order

Special counsel Jack Smith has called on the judge to install a gag order against former President Trump, citing among other things his recent appearance at a South Carolina gun store.

In a court filing on Friday, Smith wrote to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan that Trump should not be be able to "obtain the benefits of his incendiary public statements" and later "avoid accountability" through "feign[ed] retraction."

This was in reference to a social media video of the former president at a gun store in South Carolina where he was holding a custom Glock.

"The defendant either purchased a gun in violation of the law and his conditions of release, or seeks to benefit from his supporters' mistaken belief that he did so," Smith wrote.

The filing also outlined recent statements Trump made about outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, according to The Hill.  

Earlier this week, Trump accused Milley of committing treason for communicating with China surrounding the Jan. 6 riot in 2021. 

"In sum, the Court may enter an order in this case restricting the parties' extrajudicial statements if the statements present a 'substantial likelihood of material prejudice' as long as the Court's order is narrowly tailored to the objections of preventing comments that are likely to influence the actual outcome of trial or are likely to prejudice the venire," Smith wrote in the filing.