此前起诉前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)的佐治亚州检察官要求法官发布紧急保护令，以保护该案的证据，就在几个小时前，视频显示机密采访有四名被告被新闻机构获得。
富尔顿县地方检察官办公室周二提交的文件称，“2023年11月13日，美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)和其他媒体公布了国家根据认罪协议与某些证人进行的保密视频记录。”
美国广播公司新闻率先报道了独家获得的部分视频，显示富尔顿县检察官秘密采访了两名律师西德尼·鲍威尔和詹娜·埃利斯，他们帮助特朗普试图推翻2020年的选举结果。
埃利斯和鲍威尔最初是在今年夏天与特朗普和其他16人一起被起诉的，罪名是他们试图推翻该州的选举结果。两人后来都接受了认罪协议，允许他们认罪以换取他们的合作。《华盛顿邮报》后来报道了这些提供的视频，以及另外两名也接受交易的被告肯尼斯·切塞布罗(Kenneth Chesebro)和斯科特·霍尔(Scott Hall)的视频。
在采访中，埃利斯告诉检察官，她在2020年的白宫圣诞派对上被特朗普的顶级助手之一丹·斯卡维诺告知，特朗普“在任何情况下都不会离开。”
“他用一种激动的语气对我说，‘好吧，我们不在乎，我们也不会离开，’”埃利斯谈到了据称是12月19日与斯卡维诺的谈话。“我说，‘你是什么意思?’他说‘嗯，老板’，意思是特朗普总统——每个人都理解‘老板’，我们都这么称呼他——他说，‘老板在任何情况下都不会离开。我们将继续掌权。"
埃利斯说，她告诉他，“嗯，你知道，事情并不完全是那样的，”他说，‘我们不在乎。"
美国广播公司新闻获得的视频似乎没有描述埃利斯和鲍威尔的完整会议，而是似乎是近一个半小时的摘录。
富尔顿县地方检察官的发言人没有回应对该报道的置评请求。当ABC新闻联系到埃利斯和鲍威尔时，他们的律师拒绝置评。斯卡维诺也没有回应置评请求。
该州在新的动议中否认与视频发布有任何牵连，并表示，作为发现过程的一部分，该材料已被移交给该案的众多被告。他们说，他们将不再分发视频副本作为发现过程的一部分，而是在他们的办公室提供观看。
该州进一步声称，释放“显然是为了恐吓本案的证人，使他们在审判前受到骚扰和威胁。”
该州最初在9月份申请保护令，但从未被裁定。
检察官现在要求法官“在紧急情况下”发布临时保护令，阻止在听证会期间发布该案件的任何发现材料，在听证会上，他们要求发布永久命令。
法官定于周三下午1:30就此事举行听证会
周二晚些时候，富尔顿县地方检察官法尼·威利斯(Fani Willis)表示，她对特朗普的刑事案件“将进行审判”，这可能会持续“许多个月”，并预测直到“冬天或2025年初”才会结束。
审判的时间表意味着审判可能会在2024年总统选举的高潮中进行。
“我相信在那种情况下会有一场审判。我相信审判会持续数月。我不认为我们会在冬天或2025年初结束，”她在华盛顿特区华盛顿邮报全球妇女峰会的一次电视直播采访中说
Georgia prosecutors seek emergency protective order in Trump case after confidential video disclosure
The Georgia prosecutors who previously indicted former President Donald Trump have asked a judge to issue an emergency protective order to guard the evidence in the case, just hours after videos ofconfidential interviewswith four defendants were obtained by news organizations.
"On November 13, 2023, confidential video recordings of proffers conducted by the State with certain witnesses pursuant to guilty plea agreements were published by ABC News and other media outlets," the Tuesday filing from the Fulton County District Attorney's Office said.
ABC News was first to report on portions of videos exclusively obtained showing Fulton County prosecutors confidentially interviewing two attorneys, Sidney Powell and Jenna Ellis, who helped Trump try to overturn the 2020 election results.
Ellis and Powell were originally indicted alongside Trump and 16 others this summer on charges they worked to overturn the state's election results. Both later took plea deals, allowing them to plead guilty to reduced charges in exchange for their cooperation. The Washington Post later reported on those proffer videos in addition to videos of two other defendants who also took deals, Kenneth Chesebro and Scott Hall.
In the interview, Ellis told prosecutors she was informed at a 2020 White House Christmas party by one of Trump's top aids, Dan Scavino, that Trump "is not going to leave under any circumstances."
"And he said to me, in a kind of excited tone, 'Well, we don't care, and we're not going to leave,'" Ellis said of the alleged Dec. 19 conversation with Scavino. "And I said, 'What do you mean?' And he said 'Well, the boss', meaning President Trump -- and everyone understood 'the boss,' that's what we all called him -- he said, 'The boss is not going to leave under any circumstances. We are just going to stay in power.'"
Ellis said she told him, "'Well, it doesn't quite work that way, you realize?' and he said, 'We don't care.'"
The videos obtained by ABC News do not appear to depict Ellis and Powell's full proffer sessions, but rather appear to be excerpts that total nearly an hour and a half.
A spokesperson for the Fulton County District Attorney did not respond to a request for comment on the report. Attorneys for Ellis and Powell declined to comment when reached by ABC News. Scavino also did not respond to a request for comment.
The state in its new motion denied any involvement in the video release and said the material had been turned over to the numerous defendants in the case as part of the discovery process. They said they would no longer hand out copies of the videos as part of the discovery process, and would instead offer viewings in their office.
The state further claimed the release was "clearly intended to intimidate witnesses in this case, subjecting them to harassment and threats prior to trial."
The state had originally asked for a protective order in September, though it was never ruled on.
The prosecutors have now asked the judge for a temporary protective order "on an emergency basis" blocking the release of any discovery materials in the case pending a hearing, in which they are asking for a permanent order.
The judge set a hearing on the matter for Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.
Later Tuesday, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said "there will be a trial" in her criminal case against Trump that will likely last "many months," predicting it won't wrap until "the winter or very early 2025."
That timeline for a trial would mean it could be underway in the heat of the 2024 presidential election.
"I believe in that case there will be a trial. I believe the trial will take many months. And I don't expect that we will conclude until the winter or very early part of 2025," she said during a live televised interview as part of The Washington Post's Global Women's Summit in Washington, D.C.
