'He’s got Trump’s number': Ex-federal prosecutor explains 'strategy' of Jack Smith’s newest motion

A former federal prosecutor says Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith's latest filing shows his unique understanding of former President Donald Trump — not just in a criminal sense, but in a political sense.

In a Thursday essay for Slate, Dennis Aftergut, who is a former Assistant US Attorney for the Northern District of California, analyzed elements of the filing Smith submitted to US District Court this week seeking to ban Trump from making certain statements in the courtroom. Aftergut, who co-authored the essay with Amherst College political science professor Austin Sarat, wrote that "Smith has told us three important things about his larger project and strategy."

"First, he’s a man in a hurry to ensure the fair administration of justice... Second, the motion told us that even while the trial is on hold, Smith intends to take the initiative and remain the lead in the courtroom... Third, and most important, Smith is saying loud and clear that he’s got Trump’s number," Aftergut and Sarat wrote. "The special counsel is telling Trump and the rest of us that he (Smith) understands who Trump is and the meaning of his trial for a rule-of-law society."

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According to Aftergut and Sarat, Smith's motion to muzzle Trump in the courtroom seeks "to ensure that Trump can’t politicize his trial by introducing evidence that would turn a courtroom into a circus." One of the arguments Smith wants to prevent Trump from making include the former president's past assertions that he was singled out by President Joe Biden for a supposed political persecution. Another argument Smith wants to strike is Trump's baseless suggestion that the January 6 crowd was somehow made up of undercover government agents. He also hopes to prevent Trump from mentioning alleged foreign government election interference in 2020.

"Such evidence," Smith said, "should be excluded as an irrelevant and confusing sideshow."

The motion itself was submitted to US District Court in the District of Columbia, where the Obama-appointed Judge Tanya Chutkan is overseeing proceedings. However, in the wake of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) signaling that it may decide on the question of absolute presidential immunity from criminal prosecution after the DC Circuit Court of Appeals has its say, Chutkan has temporarily paused proceedings.

Should Trump's immunity argument be struck down by the DC Circuit, and if SCOTUS doesn't grant a writ of certiorari to hear the appeal, Chutkan would resume her role as the judge overseeing the case.

READ MORE: New Jack Smith filing includes list of Trump arguments that 'must be excluded' from courtroom