Trump calls for delay in releasing evidence in DC criminal case – Monterey Herald

Michael Macagnone | (TNS) CQ Roll Call

Donald Trump on Thursday asked a federal judge in Washington to release evidence related to his attempt to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election until after Election Day in the 2024 campaign, saying it would prejudice his trial and the presidential campaign.

Trump’s lawyers made the argument to keep secret public evidence that special counsel John L. “Jack” Smith submitted in the criminal case against the former president.

Judge Tanya S. Chutkan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled last week that she would release the evidence, but gave Trump until Thursday to make new arguments or possibly appeal.

In a filing Thursday morning, Trump’s lawyers argued that Chutkan should delay releasing the evidence until after the election so it could be released along with his own filing.

Trump had previously requested and received a five-week deadline to submit the evidence he planned to use in the case.

The Republican presidential nominee’s filing Thursday said releasing a display of “cherry-picked materials” would harm Trump’s defense and electoral chances, noting that “the presidential election is less than three weeks away.”

Trump’s lawyers argued that some of Smith’s documents had already been used by Vice President Kamala Harris in the campaign.

Chutkan has already published the legal arguments Smith made earlier this month. This is part of a series of new measures in the criminal case against Trump since the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that presidents were given “absolute immunity” at the core of their presidential powers and possible immunity beyond that.

Smith’s argument that Trump’s election efforts were primarily private and not his official duties also offered the most comprehensive picture yet of the special counsel’s case against the former president.

While it contained much of what had previously been publicly reported, including the House Select Committee report on the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, it also contained references to a wealth of evidence, including text messages and interviews with key witnesses and more.

Trump will also make his own argument about presidential immunity on Thursday, setting a deadline to renew his efforts to dismiss the case in light of that Supreme Court ruling.

The filing is said to be based on a new indictment Smith filed last month that contains the same charges as the original 2023 indictment, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of an official proceeding.

The new indictment eliminated many allegations that the Supreme Court said were off limits in the case, including Trump’s attempt to enlist Justice Department and White House officials in the plan to redress his loss.

Since the Supreme Court’s ruling in July, Chutkan has taken on the case again, ruling against Trump in several cases, including this week.

In an order Wednesday, Chutkan broadly rejected Trump’s requests for additional discovery from the federal government, including evidence of foreign interference in the 2020 election and files detailing the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.