Jack Smith slams 'fraud defendant' Trump in new filing: Creating 'a carnival atmosphere' for profit

In a new filing arguing against former President Donald Trump's attempt to televise his Washington, DC election interference trial, special counsel Jack Smith warned that the ex-president would likely use the presence of cameras to create a "spectacle."

While Trump argued that he wanted the trial televised to provide "sunlight" to inform the public about developments in the trial, Smith's four-page filing — submitted Monday to US District of Columbia Judge Tanya Chutkan — Smith countered that TV cameras would only serve to allow Trump additional opportunities to grandstand in the middle of a presidential campaign.

"The defendant peppers his response with various references to 'fairness,' but what he actually seeks is to defy a uniform and longstanding broadcast prohibition that was crafted precisely with fair and orderly trial proceedings in mind," Smith wrote. "[Trump] desires instead to create a carnival atmosphere from which he hopes to profit by distracting, like many fraud defendants try to do, from the charges against him."

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Cameras have historically not been allowed in federal courtrooms, and Smith argued that Chutkan shouldn't break precedent just to give Trump special treatment. The special counsel pointed to the lack of previous case law cited in Trump's argument for a televised trial, and provided numerous other examples of high-profile federal cases to argue that Trump's attempt to have cameras present at his election interference trial was unnecessary. Smith pointed to the trials of Boston Marathon bomber Dzokhar Tsarnaev, 9/11 architect Zacarias Moussaoui, and Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh as examples of trials with immense public interest but that were conducted without TV cameras present.

"The defendant’s response does not cite a single rule or case in support of his position, because there are none," he wrote. "The Court should decline the defendant’s 'demand' that he be placed beyond the rules and above the law. And it should avoid the spectacle — and attendant risks of witness intimidation — that the longstanding rules against courtroom broadcasting are designed to avoid."

Trump's trial is scheduled to begin on March 4, 2024. The expected trial date comes one day before the Super Tuesday primaries, in which 17 states and territories will hold their presidential nominating contests — particularly states loaded with delegates, like California and Texas. Depending on the outcome of the previous contests, the winner of the plurality of Super Tuesday delegates could potentially have an insurmountable lead that could render the remaining primaries and caucuses unnecessary.