James Wolfe’s attorney speaking outside court following arraignment pic.twitter.com/HCnLOr3gu3
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) June 13, 2018
James Wolfe, the former Senate intelligence staffer who was recently charged with making false statements to the FBI, doesn’t want his name in President Donald Trump‘s mouth.
To that end, Wolfe’s attorney held a brief press conference highlighting a key aspect of Wolfe’s legal strategy moving forward: a judicial order barring anyone in the government from publicly commenting on the case in a negative light.
Outside the steps of Washington, D.C. courthouse following Wolfe’s Wednesday arraignment, defense counsel Benjamin Klubes said:
We intend to file a motion seeking an order from the court prohibiting the government–including all levels, that means including President Trump–from making improper and prejudicial statements regarding this case.
When asked by a reporter what concerns Klubes had about the president’s statement, Wolfe’s attorney replied, “We’re not gonna take any questions now.” Klubes then answered a question about how to spell his name before departing.
On Friday, President Trump made a series of public statements which appeared to pre-judge Wolfe’s guilt. Speaking in front of reporters at the G-7 meeting in Canada, Trump remarked, “It’s very interesting, they caught a leaker in a very important — it could be a very important leaker, so it’s very interesting.” The 45th president continued:
It could be a terrific thing. I know, I believe strongly in freedom of the press. I’m a big, big believer in freedom of the press. But I’m also a believer in classified information. It has to remain classified. That includes Comey and his band of thieves who leaked classified information all over the place. So I’m a very big believer in freedom of the press, but I’m also a believer that you cannot leak classified information.
Wolfe was arrested last Friday in Maryland over accusations that misrepresented his relationships with three reporters and that he leaked Senate Intelligence Committee information to two of those reporters before lying to FBI agents about those alleged leaks. Wolfe was indicted on three counts of making false statements. On Wednesday, he pleaded not guilty to the charges.
[image via Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images]
Follow Colin Kalmbacher on Twitter: @colinkalmbacher
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