Fulton County prosecutors filed an emergency request for a protective order in the Georgia election subversion case on Tuesday after recorded statements made by multiple defendants as part of their plea deals were made public.
On Monday, ABC News and The Washington Post published footage of the proffer sessions, which showed the four defendants who pleaded guilty being questioned by prosecutors about their involvement in various efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Prosecutors said the footage was turned over to the remaining defendants as part of discovery, urging the court to impose restrictions on how the defendants can disclose the materials.
“The release of these confidential video recordings is clearly intended to intimidate witnesses in this case, subjecting them to harassment and threats prior to trial, constitutes indirect communication about the facts of this case with codefendants and witnesses, and obstructs the administration of justice, in violation of the conditions of release imposed on each defendant,” prosecutors wrote in their motion.
To prevent further disclosure, prosecutors said they will not provide videos of any proffer sessions to defendants moving forward.
“Instead, defendants must come to the District Attorney’s Office to view confidential video recordings of proffers. They may take notes, but they will be prohibited from creating any recordings or reproductions,” prosecutors wrote in the filing.
Yes, that would have been a good idea. They probably should have seen this coming. I can’t recall for certain, but I don’t think this is the first time discovery information was leaked by the defense in a trump trial.