Judge Tanya Chutkan released Wednesday a redacted version of special counsel Jack Smith’s lengthy brief detailing evidence in the election interference against former President Donald Trump.
Chutkan wrote there is “no support” for Trump’s attorneys’ accusations that the government is driven by “bad-faith partisan bias,” ordering Smith’s 165-page brief on presidential immunity to be filed on the public docket. For weeks, Trump’s attorneys have argued Smith should not be allowed to file the motion, which they claimed would do little more than allow prosecutors to make their case in the “court of public opinion” ahead of the election.
“These accusations, for which Defendant provides no support, continue a pattern of defense filings focusing on political rhetoric rather than addressing the legal issues at hand,” Chutkan wrote. “Not only is that focus unresponsive and unhelpful to the court, but it is also unbefitting of experienced defense counsel and undermining of the judicial proceedings in this case.”
The Supreme Court held in July that former presidents are immune from prosecution for official acts taken in office. Smith’s brief denies that the ruling covers the allegations in his superseding indictment against Trump.
“Although the defendant was the incumbent President during the charged conspiracies, his scheme was fundamentally a private one,” prosecutors wrote. “Working with a team of private co-conspirators, the defendant acted as a candidate when he pursued multiple criminal means to disrupt, through fraud and deceit, the government function by which votes are collected and counted—a function in which the defendant, as President, had no official role”
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].
Republished with permission from Daily Caller News Foundation
