Trump calls judges “evil” for releasing case files before election

Donald Trump has called a judge “the most evil person” after she released more than 1,800 pages of evidence in special counsel Jack Smith’s election conspiracy case against him.

The Republican nominee for the White House said U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan’s denial of his request to delay the release of the new evidence until after next month’s vote amounted to “election interference.”

Legal analysts have debated whether the files in the case violate an internal Justice Department rule that requires prosecutors to avoid any investigative step that could affect an election within 60 days of the vote.

But in her ruling, Judge Chutkan argued that if she had kept the files secret, that itself could have been construed as election interference.

“If the court withholds information that the public would otherwise have a right to access simply because of the potential political consequences of its release, that withholding could itself constitute — or appear to be — election interference,” she wrote.

Last year, a Texas woman was charged with making death threats against Judge Chutkan citing the Trump case.

The heavily redacted 1,889-page documents released Friday largely restore information already publicly available, including portions of former Vice President Mike Pence’s biography and his formal announcement that he would not overturn the 2020 election results.

The new evidence is part of a motion filed by Mr. Smith last month.

Appearing during a podcast with right-wing media star Dan Bongino on Friday, Trump criticized Judge Chutkan, calling the special counsel “a sick puppy.”

The indictment focuses on the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and accuses Trump of illegally conspiring to overturn his election loss to Joe Biden three months earlier.

After the Supreme Court ruled this summer that Trump cannot be prosecuted for acts as president, Mr. Smith was forced to change the historic case and argue that Trump, while still in office, committed crimes as a private citizen.

In September, he filed a new motion outlining the new case against the former president. Among other things, it claimed that Trump had spread false claims about election fraud even though he thought they were “crazy.”

The filing also included new details about how Trump’s relationship with Pence deteriorated, with the former vice president urging Trump to stop repeating false election fraud theories and move on.

The documents released Friday include transcripts of interviews with the Jan. 6 House committee investigating the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, portions of Pence’s autobiography and fundraising emails sent to voters.

It is unclear whether the Jan. 6 case will ever go to trial. Trump is expected to end the prosecution when he returns to the White House.

He faces several further criminal proceedings. He has already been convicted in New York in 34 cases in connection with a hush money payment.