On Thursday, President Trump took action to dismiss the case brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith in Washington, D.C., citing “presidential immunity.”
This case was filed in January and includes four counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
In addition, Smith is attempting to impose a gag order on the president.
The special counsel’s prosecutors accused Trump of attempting to undermine the judicial process by launching disparaging and inflammatory attacks against citizens of the District, the Court, prosecutors, and potential witnesses.
Trump’s lawyers criticized the Biden Administration and alleged that Jack Smith had disregarded 234 years of precedent in charging a former president.
“Breaking 234 years of precedent, the incumbent administration has charged President Trump for acts that lie not just within the ‘outer perimeter,’ but at the heart of his official responsibilities as President,” Trump’s attorneys say in their filing. “In doing so, the prosecution does not, and cannot, argue that President Trump’s efforts to ensure election integrity, and to advocate for the same, were outside the scope of his duties.”
Trump’s legal counsel asserted that Trump is immune from consequence due to his exoneration in the Senate subsequent to his second impeachment concerning the events of January 6.
“The Impeachment Clauses provide that the President may be charged by indictment only in cases where the President has been impeached and convicted by trial in the Senate,” the lawyers wrote according to ABC News. “Here, President Trump was acquitted by the Senate for the same course of conduct… The Special Counsel cannot second-guess the judgment of the duly elected United States Senate.”
Excerpt from ABC News:
Former President Donald Trump made his first motion to dismiss his federal election interference case Thursday, citing what his lawyers claim is his “absolute immunity” from prosecution for actions taken while serving in the nation’s highest office.
The former president has denied all wrongdoing and denounced the charges as “a persecution of a political opponent.”
While Smith’s indictment specifically alleged Trump clearly acted outside the scope of his office while engaging in an unlawful conspiracy to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power, Trump’s attorneys on Thursday contended that Smith “falsely claims President Trump’s motives were impure” and that he “knew” reports of fraud in the election were untrue.
“…[As] the Constitution, the Supreme Court, and hundreds of years of history and tradition all make clear, the President’s motivations are not for the prosecution or this Court to decide,” they argue. “Rather, where, as here, the President’s actions are within the ambit of his office, he is absolutely immune from prosecution.”
Trump’s attorneys, Chris Kise and Todd Blanche, filed a motion on Wednesday evening seeking to delay Jack Smith’s May classified documents trial until after the 2024 election.
They accused Smith’s prosecutors of using dilatory tactics to slow-roll the discovery process and taking too long to turn over evidence. According to the motion, Kise and Blanche stated that the May trial date makes the schedule “unworkable”.
“On July 18, 2023, the Special Counsel’s Office represented to the Court that ‘all’ discovery would be available on ‘day one.’” Trump’s lawyers wrote.
Blanche and Kise also noted that the Florida classified documents trial scheduled for May 20, as well as the separate D.C. trial regarding President Trump’s purported attempt to impede transition of power, set for March 4, present a conflict of interest that requires “Trump and his lawyers to be in two places at once.”
“The March 4, 2023 trial date in the District of Columbia, and the underlying schedule in that case, currently require President Trump and his lawyers to be in two places at once,” Trump’s lawyers wrote, according to CBS News. “And, months after the Office’s representation to the Court, discovery is not complete in this case—including with respect to the classified documents at issue in more than 25% of the [Espionage Act] counts in the Superseding Indictment.”
President Trump is facing a total of forty counts in connection to the case involving classified documents located in Florida.
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