Washington- Lawyers for former President Donald Trump on Thursday urged the federal district judge overseeing his 2020 election-related lawsuits to keep from public view evidence accompanying a key legal brief from special counsel Jack Smith that detailed his case against the former president.
Trump’s lawyers argued in their two-page filing that U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan should not allow additional information to be released and accused Smith of trying to interfere with the upcoming presidential election by making public potentially damaging information while voters are casting their ballots.
The former president’s lawyers also asked Chutkan to withhold any decision to release additional information regarding Smith’s record to allow them to “evaluate litigation options.”
“There should be no further disclosure at this time of the so-called ‘evidence’ that the Special Prosecutor’s Office unlawfully cherry-picked and misrepresented – during early voting in the 2024 presidential election – in connection with a request for improper presidential immunity that has been filed has no basis in criminal proceedings or legal precedent,” the former president’s lawyers wrote.
The special prosecutor’s office declined to comment. In an earlier filing, prosecutors rejected Trump’s claim that they were politically motivated, calling them “unsupported” and “false,” and said the special prosecutor’s directive was to enforce the law.
“He has no role or interest in partisan politics and has faithfully fulfilled his duties as prosecutor in this matter,” they wrote.
Shortly after Trump filed his opposition to any further disclosure, Chutkan granted Smith’s request to file the appendix, with its proposed redactions, on the public docket. But she also granted Trump’s request to suspend her decision for seven days.
The judge wrote in her brief order that the prosecutors’ proposed redactions are “appropriate” but that Trump’s “general objections to further unsealing are without merit.”
Chutkan was tasked with deciding whether the annex and the brief submitted by Smith earlier this month is expected to be made public with some information kept under wraps. The judge allowed the brief to be made public last week, even though it included redactions of the names of alleged co-conspirators, campaign staff and White House officials, as well as some references to grand jury proceedings .
The special prosecutor had indicated that much of the annex contained sensitive documents that should be hidden from the public. This proof, is the subject of a protection order released early in the case last year, likely includes transcripts of grand jury testimony and interviews with the FBI.
Prosecutors also said in a separate filing that they are proposing limited redactions of certain information that is in the public domain, such as Trump’s tweets, if those materials “identify or target an individual who, because of his or her status as a potential witness or involvement in events – may be subject to threats or harassment, or may otherwise experience a chilling effect on their testimony at trial.
The proceedings in the case against Trump were relaunched in August after the Supreme Court ruled that former presidents right to a certain immunity criminal charges stemming from official acts performed while at the White House.
Prosecutors requested a new indictment against Trump to comply with the high court’s ruling that contained a narrower set of allegations and removed references to his discussions with Justice Department officials. The court’s conservative majority ruled that such interactions were prohibited for prosecutors.
Trump was initially billed in August 2023 with four counts stemming from what Smith claimed was a scheme to overturn the transfer of power after the 2020 presidential election. The former president still faces the same four counts in the new indictment and pleaded not guilty.
The two sides are currently debating whether the conduct alleged in the slimmed-down indictment is protected by presidential immunity, a decision that will ultimately be up to Chutkan. Trump’s lawyers said they would do it again seek to have the entire case was dismissed based on presidential immunity and other grounds.
Smith submitted his full case to the judge earlier this month, arguing that the allegations against Trump are not protected by presidential immunity. Although initially filed under seal, Chutkan ordered it made public last week.
The 165-page legal brief provides the most detailed review of evidence gathered by federal prosecutors in their case against Trump and includes new information about his conversations with former Vice President Mike Pence in the days after the election of November and its activities on January 6, 2021when the US Capitol building was invaded by a mob of Trump supporters.
Smith argued in his lengthy filing that the allegations against Trump are not protected by presidential immunity and said the former president’s alleged plot to overturn the results of the 2020 election was framed in his as a presidential candidate, not as president.
“When the defendant lost the 2020 presidential election, he resorted to crimes in an attempt to remain in office,” the special prosecutor and his team wrote.
But the former president’s legal team has pressed for any new information about the case not to be made public until after the November election. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, is locked in a tight race for the White House against Vice President Kamala Harris.
While Trump’s lawyers have tried to warn of the implications for the presidential race, Chutkan has rejected any talk of the upcoming election, repeatedly saying she is not concerned about the election schedule.
Robert Legare contributed to this report.
