But Smith’s team has also worked to spare the former president unnecessary embarrassment or inconvenience, as evidenced by their respectful attitude at the arraignment toward Trump and his co-defendant, Walt Nauta.
The US Marshals Service, a branch of the Department of Justice responsible for enforcing the law in federal courts, took a similar tactic. They searched Trump quickly and quietly at an office in the courthouse, electronically fingerprinting him but avoiding a mugshot “because there are so many photos of him” to choose from, according to a federal law enforcement official who briefed reporters afterward.
Smith’s decision to avoid imposing strict preconditions on Trump’s release appears to be part of a broader strategy to avoid secondary fights that could complicate efforts to obtain a conviction, according to current and former Justice Department officials.
By not pushing to limit contact between Mr. Trump and potential witnesses who are also his aides and other employees or advisers and attorneys, prosecutors were seeking to minimize the potential for any violation of those restrictions that could disrupt their efforts to keep the trial. in focus. on the core charges involving national security secrets and obstruction.
“I guess that’s why they didn’t insist on travel restrictions or even a gag order,” said Barbara L. McQuade, who was US attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan from 2010 to 2017.
There is also a feeling among some close to the case that much of the evidence needed to convict the defendants, in the form of text messages, photographs, camera footage, sworn testimony and the detailed notes of M. Evan Corcoran, a Trump’s attorney, is already in place, making a witness confrontation an expensive distraction with limited benefits.
“No contact orders, like the one the judge insisted on, are routine, even in cases where there is no defendant, like Trump, who has tried to influence witnesses,” said Mary McCord, a former senior official. in the Homeland Security Division of the Department of Justice. “But in this case, Jack Smith already has a lot of what he needs, so he seems to be avoiding a fight that could slow things down.”
