Federal judge tears into 'bad faith' Jack Smith and denies his bid to gag Trump after he claimed FBI agents who raided Mar-a-Lago were authorized to kill him

Judge Aileen Cannon accused special counsel Jack Smith of making a 'bad faith' request to impose a gag order on former President Trump following his claim that the FBI was authorized to shoot him during a search at Mar-a-Lago.

The federal judge ruled against Smith, saying federal prosecutors didn't show 'professional courtesy' when they conferred with defense lawyers right before the start of the Memorial Day weekend.

Smith's team asked the judge to impose a gag on Trump for making inflammatory statements after Trump posted about the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago in the classified documents case.

'The court finds the Special Counsel's pro forma 'conferral' to be wholly lacking in substance and professional courtesy,' wrote Cannon, a Trump appointtee who was confirmed by the Senate days after the 2020 election.

'It should go without saying that meaningful conferral is not a perfunctory exercise,' she said. 

Judge Aileen Cannon ruled prosecutors ignored 'professional courtesy' with a request that she put a gag on former president Donald Trump right before the start of Memorial Day weekend. They wanted to block inflammatory statements after Trump wrote that agents were authorized to shoot him 

Trump's statements came after a newly unsealed filing revealed a 'policy statement' regarding the 'Use of Deadly Force' in conjunction with the search for classified documents at the former president's home. 

It included standard language stating that agents  planned to bring '"Standard Issue Weapon[s]," "Ammo," "Handcuffs," and that 'for example, "Law enforcement officers with the Department of Justice may use deadly force when necessary..."' 

Trump made hay out of the language in online posts and emails.  

'BREAKING FROM TRUMP: BIDEN'S DOJ WAS AUTHORIZED TO SHOOT ME!' read one Trump e-mail. He titled it: 'I nearly escaped death.'

'It's just been revealed that Biden's DOJ was authorized to use DEADLY FORCE for their DESPICABLE raid in Mar-a-Lago,' he wrote in another.

Attorney General Merrick Garland condemned the comments on Thursday, calling Trump's claims 'false' and 'extremely dangerous.'

Jack Smith's team had cited 'several intentionally false and inflammatory statements' by Trump while seeking the gag

Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon said prosecutors were lacking in 'professional courtesy'

The AG said the language was part of a 'standard operations plan' for agents preparing to execute a search warrant. 

The decision comes weeks after Cannon postponed Trump's trial indefinitely, citing pretrial and classification issues and putting off a scheduled May 20th start date. 

Judges have imposed gags on Trump in other cases, including the Stormy Daniels hush money trial underway in Manhattan.

Jack Smith's team had cited 'several intentionally false and inflammatory statements' in their own filing. They said it gave a 'grossly misleading impression' they were 'complicit in a plot to assassinate him.'

Smith wanted to modify Trump's conditions of release and cited the risk of 'threats, violence and harassment' to law enforcement.

Trump's team vehemently opposed the requested order, which they called an unconstitutional gag on the former president.

'The Motion is an extraordinary, unprecedented, and unconstitutional censorship application,' attorneys headed by Chris Kise wrote.