Lawyers for former President Donald Trump are pushing back against efforts by federal prosecutors to streamline arguments and potential appeals in his 2020 election interference case, arguing they could improperly influence the 2024 race for the White House.
In papers filed Monday in federal court in Washington, defense attorneys contended that special counsel Jack Smith’s plans to file an oversized brief about whether certain Trump actions from his presidency were official or unofficial acts is improper and should not be allowed.
“Departures from these practices should never be countenanced because they risk allowing prosecutors to impact national elections, but the situation is even worse here where the Special Counsel’s Office is seeking to do so by turning criminal procedure on its head in order to file a 180-page false hit piece,” Trump’s lawyers argued
Prosecutors from Smith’s office have said such a filing is necessary because it would address the Supreme Court’s concerns about presidential immunity issues in the case while limiting the number of possible appeals. They have asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the election interference case, to allow them to file a 180-page brief on the issue by Thursday.
Trump’s lawyers urged Chutkan to reject “this monstrosity.”
“The requested 180-page brief would be tantamount to a premature and improper Special Counsel report,” the attorneys argued, adding that Smith’s “streamlining” proposal is “the type of ‘highly expedited’ proceedings prior to the 2024 Presidential election that the Supreme Court has already criticized.”
They also called it an attempt by prosecutors to “improperly air their biased list of grievances.”
Smith’s office declined comment Monday night.
It’s unclear how much of the motion would be made public if Chutkan allows prosecutors to file it.