Special counsel Jack Smith moved to limit former President Donald J. Trump’s ability to defend himself in the upcoming trial over charges related to his role in the so-called “insurrection” on January 6, 2021.
On Wednesday, the prosecution filed a motion in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia asking Obama-appointed Judge Tanya Chutkan to bar Trump from making certain statements to the jury including that the Justice Department’s prosecution of him is being directed by President Joe Biden, as well as suggestions that undercover agents were acting as provocateurs during the protest at the U.S. Capitol.
“Through public statements, filings, and argument in hearings before the Court, the defense has attempted to inject into this case partisan political attacks and irrelevant and prejudicial issues that have no place in a jury trial,” Smith’s team wrote.
One particular line jumps out: “The court should exclude evidence regarding agency preparation for, and responses on, January 6.”
Biden’s hatchet man, Jack Smith, is now attempting to prevent Trump from presenting any evidence about January 6th in his January 6th trial. You can’t make this up. Worst part? The judge will likely grant Smith’s request.
h/t @julie_kelly2 pic.twitter.com/n5272Uf3hd— @amuse (@amuse) December 27, 2023
Even though the start date of what promises to be the biggest legal circus since the O.J. Simpson trial has been thrown into question after the Supreme Court shot down Smith’s gambit to leapfrog the appeals court on the question of presidential immunity, the underhanded prosecutor is undeterred in his mission to convict the Republican frontrunner before next year’s election.
The target of Smith’s lawfare lynching reacted in a typically scathing post to Truth Social after the news broke.
“Crooked Joe Biden’s errand boy, Deranged Jack Smith, is obsessed with attacking your favorite President, me, and with interfering in the 2024 Presidential Election, which I am Dominating. Deranged Jack is so Viciously and Desperately Angry that the Supreme Court just unanimously rejected his flailing attempt to rush this Witch Hunt, that he is ignoring the Law and clear instructions from the D.C. Court that this “case” should be stayed, and there cannot be any more filings,” Trump wrote.
(Screenshot: Truth Social)
“Today’s pathetic motion is not just Illegal, it is also another Unconstitutional attempt to take away my First Amendment Rights, and to prevent me from saying the TRUTH — that all of these Hoaxes are nothing but a political persecution of me, the MAGA Movement, and the Republican Party by Crooked Joe and his Despicable Thugs. The Radical Left Communists, Marxists, and Fascists are petrified of me speaking the TRUTH because the American People don’t want them destroying our Country. Make America Great Again!” Trump added.
“Although the Court can recognize these efforts for what they are and disregard them, the jury — if subjected to them — may not,” Smith’s filing read.
“The Court should not permit the defendant to turn the courtroom into a forum in which he propagates irrelevant disinformation, and should reject his attempt to inject politics into this proceeding. To ensure that the jury remains focused on its fact-finding duty and applies the law as instructed by the Court, the defendant’s improper evidence and argument should be excluded,” it added.
“Although the defendant is entitled to cross-examine the Government’s law enforcement witnesses about matters fairly within the scope of their direct testimony, he cannot raise wholly irrelevant topics in an effort to confuse and distract the jury. Much as the defendant would like it otherwise, this trial should be about the facts and the law, not politics,” the prosecution stated.
Judge Chutkan had temporarily frozen the proceedings while the appeals court sorted out the issue of immunity. Smith’s team said that it submitted the filing regardless of the freeze to “provide the Court and defendant notice and to promote the prompt resumption of the pretrial schedule if and when the mandate returns.”
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