Lawyers for former President Donald Trump called for the immediate dismissal of the 2020 election subversion charges against him, arguing this week that the prosecution’s actions violate the Supreme Court‘s presidential immunity ruling and Trump’s due process rights.
The filing, submitted close to midnight on Thursday after the government granted an extension to a 5 p.m. deadline, reiterated Trump’s long-held beliefs that special counsel Jack Smith‘s case surrounding Trump’s post-2020 election challenges and the subsequent Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol should be thrown out to protect the integrity of the presidency and the 2024 election.
“Dismissal is required to protect the integrity of the presidency and the upcoming election,” Trump’s counsel wrote in a 30-page filing, “as well as the constitutional rights of President Trump and the American people.”
The core defense argument focuses on the indictment’s reliance on interactions between Trump and then-Vice President Mike Pence, which defense lawyers said the Supreme Court has recognized as “official conduct” that should be protected by immunity.
Some of the requests the defense lawyers made in their filing have already been rejected by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in an order she filed two weeks ago after a hearing at the federal district court in Washington, D.C.
Chutkan, who jump-started the case last month after a nearly eight-month pause due to the Supreme Court’s considerations on presidential immunity, was asked to delay any assessment on how the immunity ruling applies to this case until mid-December, a request she rejected earlier this month.
Above all else, Trump’s legal team said Smith’s office has disregarded crucial legal precedents and failed to meet its discovery obligations, such as failing to disclose exculpatory evidence. They argued that all discovery matters should be dealt with before commencing a process that would involve the judge deciding which aspects of Smith’s indictment can survive despite the Supreme Court’s immunity decision.
Trump’s team said some of these responsive materials that Smith should have to submit include materials about whether there were any “government agents” in the crowd during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, as well as documentation of requests made for security on that day.
Defense lawyers said they need other materials that could be helpful to Trump’s case, such as documents on election security concerns and the government’s prior positions on executive authority. Trump’s legal team argued that these omissions are grounds for dismissing the case, as they hinder his ability to mount a full defense.
The motion also challenges the prosecution’s handling of classified materials and accuses the special counsel of mischaracterizing their legal obligations under discovery rules.
The Trump v. United States decision on July 1 set a test that divided presidential acts into three buckets: Official acts that are absolutely immune from prosecution, official acts that are presumptively immune from prosecution and require adequate rebuttals from prosecutors, and unofficial acts that are not immune at all. The high court gave guidance that suggested Trump’s communication with his White House staff, for example, could be considered official conduct.
It is not clear whether Chutkan will agree to grant any of Trump’s requests, especially the one to dismiss the case, as it was made in a filing that was intended merely to seek more information from prosecutors.
Chutkan has had a history of making decisions that favor the prosecution, as she sought to bring the complex case to a trial in early March. Meanwhile, Trump has seen more success in Smith’s separate Florida classified documents case, as a judge dismissed those charges altogether. Smith is now seeking input from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to resurrect that case.
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Smith filed a superseding indictment in the Jan. 6 case last month that maintained all four of the charges prosecutors initially brought against Trump, although they removed mentions of some of the alleged underlying conduct, including allegations about attempts to use the Justice Department to promote claims about election fraud.
Trump faces four charges related to his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights. These charges involve claims that he spread false election information, disrupted the certification of electoral votes, and attempted to intimidate voters. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.