©  The Hill, Greg Nash

Former President Trump‘s legal team pushed back against Special Counsel Jack Smith‘s request for a protective order preventing Trump from publicly discussing evidence in the 2020 election case.

“In a trial about First Amendment rights, the government seeks to restrict First Amendment rights,” Trump’s attorneys wrote in court filings Monday. They asked for an order only restricting “sensitive” evidence from being shared publicly.

Smith said his requested restrictions were necessary because “the defendant has previously issued public statements on social media regarding witnesses, judges, attorneys, and others associated with legal matters pending against him.”

Smith continued, “If the defendant were to begin issuing public posts using details — or, for example, grand jury transcripts — obtained in discovery here, it could have a harmful chilling effect on witnesses or adversely affect the fair administration of justice in this case.”

Trump said on Truth Social earlier in the day, “No, I shouldn’t have a protective order placed on me because it would impinge upon my right to FREE SPEECH.”

Trump’s team filed the response ahead of a Monday evening deadline after Smith filed the initial request Friday. Earlier that day, Trump posted to Truth Social, “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!”

A campaign spokesperson said the post “was in response to the RINO, China-loving, dishonest special interest groups and Super PACs, like the ones funded by the Koch brothers and the Club for No Growth.”

Trump’s team had asked for a deadline extension until Thursday to respond to Smith’s request. Judge Tanya Chutkan denied Trump’s request.

Trump pleaded not guilty last week to four charges around efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

Read the full report here.

Welcome to Evening Report! I’m Amee LaTour, catching you up from the afternoon and what’s coming tomorrow. Not on the list? Subscribe here.

• Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said more interest rate hikes “will likely be needed,” while New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams said another rate hike is an “open question.”
  
  

• A road near the Fulton County Courthouse closed this morning through Aug. 18 as District Attorney Fani Willis (D) prepares to announce whether she’ll indict former President Trump over efforts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results.
  
  

• Ohio holds a special election Tuesday on a ballot measure to raise the threshold required to amend the state constitution to 60 percent support from voters, which would affect the prospects of a November measure to create constitutional protections for abortion.

©  Tierney L. Cross / The Hill

President Biden hosted the Houston Astros baseball team, winner of the 2022 World Series, at the White House on Monday. He noted the team’s charitable work supporting children with cancer and the people of Uvalde, Texas, in the wake of last year’s school shooting, as well as raising awareness of domestic violence.

Biden also quipped that he and manager Dusty Baker, 74, have something in common: “Dusty, it wasn’t easy. People counted you out, saying you’re past your prime. Hell, I know something about that.”

The team presented Biden, the nation’s 46th president, with a “46” jersey.

Presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis‘s (R) NBC News interview with Dasha Burns airs Monday on “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt” and ran on the “Today” show, with additional segments airing throughout the day. 

It’s DeSantis’s first network interview since his campaign “reboot” and one of few network interviews of his campaign so far. He recently sat down with Fox News and CNN.

DeSantis responded to a question from Burns about whether former President Trump lost the 2020 election both saying “of course he lost… Joe Biden’s the president” and saying it was a poorly run election, criticizing policies like mail-in voting.

“I think what people in the media and elsewhere, they want to act like somehow this was just like the perfect election. … I don’t think it was a good-run election.” Read more here.