'Especially problematic': Trump lawyers want evidence hidden from public until after election

17 October 2024

Attorneys for former President Donald Trump are now asking U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to keep additional documents submitted by federal prosecutors sequestered from public view until after the November election.

Law & Crime reported Thursday that the ex-president is specifically asking Judge Chutkan to keep a stay in place on the public release of the appendix included in Department of Justice (DOJ) special counsel Jack Smith's dossier that was unsealed earlier this month. That appendix includes a wealth of redacted evidence that was scheduled to go public today.

Trump's lawyers argue that the stay should remain until November 14, so the defense can have enough time to assemble their own appendix justifying their claims to absolute immunity. The deadline defense lawyers requested is notably nine days after voters head to the polls.

In his official response, Trump's defense counsel said the delay was necessary in order to not improperly influence the upcoming election and allow "both sides" to have their cases heard in the media at the same time. Attorneys further argued that "the public has been poisoned by a one-sided prosecutorial narrative."

"If, as here, a prosecutor, during a highly contested political campaign, is granted leave to submit enormous filings publicly examining a President’s decision-making while in office, future Presidents will be far more reluctant to take the ‘bold and unhesitating action’ required of them,” Trump's lawyers wrote in their filing. “This is true even if ordinary procedures are followed, with the President making the first submission, but it is especially problematic where neither the Constitution, nor the rules of criminal procedure based on our founding principles, have been followed, thus wrongly allowing the prosecution to file first, in anticipation of a motion to dismiss."

Law & Crime cited a tweet from Eric Columbus — a DOJ appointee under former President Barack Obama — in which he posited that this filing was a prelude to Trump asking the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) to step in on his behalf. The Court already handed Trump a big win in its 6-3 Trump v. United States ruling in July, which granted the former president absolute immunity for all "official acts" while in office.

"This filing (which Judge Chutkan will not grant) is a prelude to Trump seeking relief from SCOTUS," Columbus tweeted. "Look for more filings today, maybe an intermediate stop at the DC Circuit (where he won’t win)."

While SCOTUS granted presidents broad immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts, judges left it up to the lower district and appellate courts to determine what ultimately constitutes an official act. In Smith's 165-page dossier, he argued that the actions he is prosecuting Trump for do not fall under the "official acts" umbrella, and that his attempts to overturn the 2020 election were done in his capacity as a candidate.

Smith had to retool his initial four-count indictment in the D.C. election interference case in order to comply with SCOTUS' immunity ruling. Those federal felony charges against the ex-president for allegedly obstructing Congress' certification of election results still remain intact. However, Smith's 37-count indictment has been thrown out by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon (whom Trump appointed to the bench in 2020) in July. Smith appealed that decision to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has ruled against Cannon twice in the past.

Click here to read Law & Crime's report in its entirety. And click here to read Trump's latest filing in full.

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