On Oct. 23, attorneys filed several motions to dismiss Special Counsel Jack Smith’s unprecedented case attempting to put former President Donald Trump in jail for up to 35 years. The three new motions filed at 9:14 p.m. Monday move to dismiss the case on both statutory and constitutional grounds and allege “selective and vindictive prosecution” before U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, a foreign-born Obama appointee who has publicly expressed personal animus against Trump and his supporters and refused to recuse herself from the case.
The filing appears to set up the case for appeal to the Supreme Court. Monday’s motion to dismiss based on constitutional grounds argues the entirety of Smith’s case against Trump is based on prosecuting the latter’s speech. Free speech is a constitutionally secured American right.
Smith’s August indictment alleged Trump’s disputes with the reliability of the 2020 election amount to criminal conspiracies and obstructions.
“Additionally, as the United States Senate has previously tried and acquitted President Trump for charges arising from the same course of conduct alleged in the indictment, the impeachment and double jeopardy clauses both bar retrial before this Court and require dismissal,” says the constitutional dismissal motion. “Finally, because of our country’s longstanding tradition of forceful political advocacy regarding perceived fraud and irregularities in numerous Presidential elections, President Trump lacked fair notice that his advocacy in this instance could be criminalized. Thus, the Court should dismiss the indictment under the Due Process clause as well.”
The motion quotes multiple Supreme Court cases, including
