Trump moves to cut ‘inflammatory’ Jan. 6 mentions from DC indictment

Former President Donald Trump asked a federal judge to excise references to violence during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot from an indictment brought by special counsel Jack Smith in Washington related to the 2020 election.

Trump’s attorneys argued in a court filing late Tuesday night, minutes before the deadline to file motions in the case, that references to acts committed by rioters amounted to “surplusage,” that is, remarks that are eligible to be removed from an indictment because they are extraneous.

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“Because the Government has not charged President Trump with responsibility for the actions at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, allegations related to these actions are not relevant and are prejudicial and inflammatory,” Trump’s attorneys wrote.

In the indictment, Smith at one point described, for example, how a “large and angry crowd — including many individuals whom [Trump] had deceived into believing the Vice President could and might change the election results — violently attacked the Capitol and halted the proceeding.”

Smith also referenced how some in the crowd, who had traveled to Washington and the Capitol specifically “at [Trump’s] direction,” had broken through barriers into restricted areas and assaulted police officers.

Such language, Trump’s attorneys argued, had no relevance to Trump’s charges and related “to a high-profile issue on which the public has high awareness and strong opinions.” They said it therefore unfairly created prejudice against Trump in the case.

Smith charged Trump with four felonies related to the 2020 election: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.

Smith’s indictment focused heavily on the accusation that Trump illegally worked to arrange alternate electors in battleground states to vote for Trump in the election based on unproven claims of widespread election fraud.

Smith, however, also argued that Trump’s vocal and persistent claims influenced and deceived his supporters. He noted that Trump and unnamed co-conspirators “directed” Trump’s supporters attending a rally in D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, “to the Capitol to obstruct the certification proceeding and exert pressure on” then-Vice President Mike Pence, who was overseeing the election certification process at the time.

In a court filing last month, Smith directly stated that “the indictment does in fact clearly link the defendant and his actions to the events of January 6.”

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He noted how Trump’s actions “led to the events of January 6,” when the riot caused the election certification to be delayed for several hours.

A spokesperson for Smith’s office declined to comment.