On Wednesday, January 3, 2024, Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to bar Donald Trump from using “irrelevant disinformation” in his D.C. election subversion trial.
Smith’s team urged Chutkan to stop Trump from using certain arguments he’s made publicly in his defense. Prosecutors believe the arguments are wrong and irrelevant and could confuse jurors.
They specifically asked that the judge ban Trump from blaming law enforcement failures for the Capitol attack. After all, he is the target of political prosecution.
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“Although the Court can recognize these efforts for what they are and disregard them, the jury — if subjected to them — may not,” the filing reads. “The Court should not permit the defendant to turn the courtroom into a forum in which he propagates irrelevant disinformation and should reject his attempt to inject politics into this proceeding.”
Prosecutors have filed similar motions in hundreds of trials for Capitol rioters. The filing follows a pause in the case. They await the outcome of Trump’s asking for an appeals court to grant him presidential immunity from prosecution.
Nobody knows if Chutkan will consider Smith’s filing while the case is in limbo. However, she will no doubt address it quickly if Trump faces rejection.
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Experts believe Trump’s legal team will be unable to appeal Chutkan’s ruling on the matter, at least not until after the trial’s conclusion. Trump is not happy about it. He took to Truth Social, claiming that the filing was “illegal” since the case was on hold.
“Deranged Jack is so Viciously and Desperately Angry that the Supreme Court just unanimously rejected his flailing attempt to rush this Witch Hunt, that he is ignoring the Law and clear instructions from the D.C. Court,” Trump wrote. “Today’s pathetic motion is not just illegal, it is also another Unconstitutional attempt to take away my First Amendment Rights.”
Trump says that it is all to prevent him from telling the truth. All the “hoaxes are nothing but a political persecution” of him.
Chutkan can make things harder for Trump if she rules in favor of Smith. His legal team also asks the court to exclude “testimony regarding the defendant’s alleged state of mind.”
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Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti predicts that it would be difficult to enforce the evidence rules given who the defendant is. As far as he is concerned, the information and allegation are prejudicial. And should not be allowed.
“That said, prosecutors keep defense attorneys from saying things that are inappropriate in the trial, and defense attorneys find ways to say them anyway,” he explained. “It will be interesting to see how that plays out at trial. My suspicion is that Judge Chutkan will try very hard to shut down these irrelevant arguments and assertions that have nothing to do with the facts of the case specifically and whether or not he’s guilty as charged.”
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