Former President Donald Trump’s legal team filed a “powerhouse” motion on Thursday asking Washington D.C. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to hold Special Counsel Jack Smith in contempt of court for continuing his prosecution of the 2024 contender despite a court-ordered freeze on the case.
“The prosecutors have cast these hallowed mandates aside to score cheap political points against President Trump on behalf of the Biden Campaign. In so doing, the prosecutors have repeatedly and willfully disregarded the Court’s explicit instructions. Such malignant conduct undermines the integrity of this proceeding and warrants severe sanction,” the filing states.
Smith initially targeted Trump over his Jan. 6, 2021 actions with four federal charges accusing the Republican of conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy against rights, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, and obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding. Trump pleaded not guilty on all four indictments in August ahead of his March 4 trial.
In December, Chutkan, who has eagerly advanced Biden administration’s 2024 election meddling, ordered Smith to halt the case while a federal appeals court weighs whether Trump can claim presidential immunity for all four federal charges. The Biden prosecutor tried to expedite the appeals process but was denied by the Supreme Court.
Despite the “clear, straightforward, and unambiguous” language warning all activity on the case must halt, Trump’s legal team said Smith “began violating the Stay almost immediately” by serving “thousands of pages of additional discovery, together with a purported draft exhibit list.”
Just 10 days after
