The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s federal election interference case, in an order issued late Thursday, denied the former president’s last-minute request to block the release of additional evidence gathered by special counsel Jack Smith.
On Friday, US District Judge Tanya Chutkan said the court will unveil a revised addendum to Smith’s immunity request filed earlier this month that included new details about the actions of Trump and his allies leading up to the January 6 attack on the Capitol. .
In ruling that the evidence would be made public, Chutkan responded to Trump’s argument that the release was politically motivated to influence the 2024 presidential election.
“There is undoubtedly a public interest in courts not intervening in elections, or appearing to do so,” Chutkan wrote in her order. “But the incidental effects of litigation on politics are not the same as the court’s deliberate interference in them.” “As a result, it is in fact the defendant’s request that threatens to undermine that public interest: if a court withholds information to which the public has a right of access solely because of the potential political consequences of its release, such withholding could itself constitute—or appear to constitute… “Interference in the elections.”
Chutkan criticized Trump’s lawyer for promoting what she described as political arguments instead of dealing with the relevant factors to justify concealing evidence in the case.
“Accordingly, the court repeatedly emphasized that defendant’s concern about the political consequences of these actions does not impact the pretrial timeline,” Chutkan wrote.
Trump’s lawyers, in a lawsuit Thursday morning, asked Chutkan to delay the release of the addendum until November 14 – after the presidential election – when the summary addendum to Trump’s response is due.
Donald Trump participates in a town hall presented by the Spanish-language network Univision, in Doral, Florida, October 16, 2024.
Marco Bello – Reuters
“Here, President Trump requests only that the Court briefly continue its current suspension of the order, so that revised versions of the Supreme Court Supplement and the incoming President Trump Supplement can be issued concurrently,” their filing said. “Although this stay will not eliminate the harms identified by President Trump in past opposition filings, some of the harms will be mitigated. For example, if the court immediately releases the documents selected by the special counsel, potential jurors will be left with a skewed, one-shot photo.” “Distorted and inaccurate of this issue.”
“If the supplements were issued simultaneously, at least some newspaper outlets would attempt to report on both sides of the issue, reducing (although again not eliminating) the potential for irreversible bias,” the filing said.
Last year, Trump pleaded not guilty to federal charges of carrying out a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election in order to remain in power.
Smith then charged Trump in a superseding indictment that was amended to respect the Supreme Court’s July ruling that Trump was entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts he performed as president.