Jack Smith slams Trump’s 'baseless arguments' in Mar-a-Lago classified documents battle

If Donald Trump's trial in special counsel Jack Smith's federal election interference case goes ahead as scheduled on March 4, another Trump trial may not be far behind: the Mar-a-Lago documents case, also being prosecuted by Smith, is scheduled to go to trial in Florida on May 20.

As Smith's office and Trump's team prepare for the Mar-a-Lago trial, they are engaged in a discovery-related battle. On Tuesday, January 16, according to The Messenger, Trump lawyers Christopher Kise and Todd Blanche accused Smith of withholding records and failing to honor "basic discovery obligations."

Discovery is the process in which opposing sides in a legal case are required by law to share evidence. Smith's office, on January 18, responded to Trump's team by saying that while they are happy to honor discovery requirements, the January 16 claim was "replete with mischaracterizations and baseless arguments" — and that the materials in question need to remain sealed for the time being in order to protect possible witnesses from harassment or intimidation.

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In a four-page reply, Smith's office explained, "The Government supports full transparency of the record consistent with witness safety, national security and the court's protective order, in part because that transparency will expose the defendants' distortions of the factual and legal landscape in their motions to compel."

Reporting for The Messenger, journalists Darren Samuelsohn and Steve Reilly note, "The special counsel's office added that 'out of concern for witness safety,' it opposed Trump's motion to get U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to release sensitive discovery material to the defense…. The former president's legal team, joined by counsel for Trump co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, requested Cannon craft an order that would compel Smith's federal prosecutors to turn over a broad swath of information."

Despite facing four criminal indictments, Trump remains the frontrunner in the 2024 GOP presidential primary — a situation that is unprecedented in United States history. Trump moved a step closer to the nomination when he won 51 percent of the Republican vote in the Iowa Caucuses on January 15, picking up more support than fellow Republicans Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy combined. And many polls are showing a close race in a likely Trump/President Joe Biden rematch.

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Read The Messenger's full report at this link.