Staff Reports
Former President Donald Trump’s legal team is making moves to hold special counsel Jack Smith in contempt of court, claiming that Smith has been disregarding a stay order halting the trial until the president’s immunity claim can be reviewed by an appeals court. Trump’s attorneys are taking no prisoners, as they petition U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, appointed by Obama, to hold Smith in contempt and to hit him with monetary sanctions for allegedly carrying on with the trial despite the stay.
??JUST IN: Trump's Legal Team Moves To Hold Jack Smith in Contempthttps://t.co/9AGzlornHt
— ????Josh Dunlap???? ULTRA-MAGA (@JDunlap1974) January 4, 2024
The controversy stems from the federal government’s prosecution of President Trump, alleging that his words and actions surrounding January 6th contributed to the violence that day. The U.S. Supreme Court recently denied Smith’s request to fast-track a review of President Trump’s immunity claim, sending the issue back to the District of Columbia Circuit Court for further consideration.
New: Trump’s legal team seeks to hold special counsel Jack Smith in contempt for purportedly violating the court’s order staying proceedings in district court. https://t.co/ZOzysOjBvw pic.twitter.com/i4kDTet5jP
— Anna Bower (@AnnaBower) January 4, 2024
In their filing, Trump’s legal team accuses Smith of submitting thousands of pages of documents as evidence, despite the court-ordered stay, likening this conduct to partisan political propaganda. They argue that by doing so, the prosecutors are essentially turning the court’s docket into a tool of the Biden Campaign, a move they view as undermining the president’s ability to fully respond to the allegations.
To add insult to injury, prosecutors submitted over 4,000 pages of “additional discovery” and “exhibit lists” just days after the stay was put in place, which Trump’s legal team sees as a deliberate attempt to harm him politically ahead of the GOP presidential primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Trump’s lawyers also assert that the prosecutors’ actions are a desperate effort to harass the former president and prevent his anticipated victory in the 2024 Presidential Election. They believe that Smith’s persistence in prosecuting Trump before the 2024 election is a deliberate ploy to throw a wrench in the gears of Trump’s political aspirations.
With the D.C. court set to hear arguments on the immunity matter in January, the stage is being set for a legal showdown. Smith’s team contends that Trump’s immunity claim is nothing more than a distraction aimed at delaying the trial past its scheduled March 4th date, insinuating that Smith is determined to prosecute Trump before the 2024 election and potentially dismiss the case if Trump were to be elected as the 47th president.
Smith has faced a series of setbacks in the case, including withdrawing key subpoenas, attempting to toss Trump in jail, trying to relocate evidence over a thousand miles away, and spending millions in taxpayer money to go against Trump’s legal powerhouse. As the drama unfolds, the potential for a significant portion of the case against Trump being dismissed looms large.
