Special counsel Jack Smith files ‘oversized motion’ in Trump’s federal election prosecution
Jack Smith and his team have filed a 180-page summary of their revised criminal prosecution of former President Donald Trump in the dispute over the results for the 2020 elections.
It is possible that some parts of the massive filing will be made public just weeks before the November 5th election.
Tanya Chutkan (an Obama-appointed U.S. district judge) gave the go ahead to Mr. Smith’s team earlier this week for the filing of the oversized motion. The normal limit for a motion is 45 pages.
After the Supreme Court’s decision on presidential immunity in the summer, the federal government stated that it would use the extra pages of the document to present “a detailed factual proposal” to the court along with exhibits.
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The feds stated in a filing made earlier this week that “the opening brief and exhibits contain substantial amounts of sensitive material as defined by protective order.” The government said it would file under seal a copy of the appendix and motion, as well as “proposed redacted versions” later on public docket upon the court’s instruction.
No public documents were available in the docket as of Thursday’s filing deadline at 5 p.m.
Peter Carr, Mr. Smith’s spokesperson, confirmed that he had met the deadline.
The team of Mr. Trump protested against the motion. They said that the government was “trying to present their untested and bias views to the court as if they were conclusive.”
In a hearing on Sept. 5, Mr. Smith’s team defended its updated indictment accusing Trump of conspiring with others to overturn the results of the 2020 elections.
The indictment was rewritten after a July Supreme Court decision that appeared to undermine some of Mr. Smith’s main accusations against the former President.
The high court ruled 6-3 that presidents are immune for their core acts of office and have immunity presumed for other acts of official conduct. However, they do not enjoy immunity for unofficial actions. The decision was viewed as a victory for Mr. Trump, because it delayed criminal charges against him until lower courts decided which charges would stand.
Mr. Smith revised his indictment of Mr. Trump, removing certain official actions such as communications between Justice Department officials. He retained all four charges, including conspiracy to defraud United States, conspiracy of obstruct official proceedings, obstruction and attempted obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights.
Judge Chutkan stated during an 80-minute hearing held earlier this month, that it was still too early to set a date for trial.