US President Donald Trump speaks at the Save America Rally near the White House on Wednesday, January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC.
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A federal judge on Friday ordered the release of more than 1,800 pages of documents filed by special counsel Jack Smith in the criminal election interference case against former President Donald Trump.
The records were released after U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan. request denied Trump’s lawyers asked that it be sealed until after the Nov. 5 presidential election.
However, many of the individual files remain edited.
Trump is charged with illegally conspiring to overturn his loss to President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
Mr. Chutkan is considering what evidence could be used against Mr. Trump in light of a Supreme Court ruling this summer that effectively narrowed and delayed Mr. Smith’s case against the former president.
The high court ruled that Trump has “constructive immunity” from criminal prosecution for official acts he performed while president, and that he has absolute immunity for certain core executive positions.
The conservative-dominated court’s ruling forced Smith to remove many details from the original indictment.
The amended criminal complaint against Trump, returned by a new grand jury in August, had all references to senior Justice Department officials and other important information removed.
On October 2, Mr. Chutkan unsealed Mr. Smith’s court filing detailing the evidence against Mr. Trump and outlining the arguments that prosecutors would make if the case went to trial.
On October 10, the judge allowed Smith to submit a set of redacted records in support of his application. But the addendum was initially not made public in the docket to give Trump’s team time to consider its legal options.
The lawyers ultimately asked Chutkan to extend the suspension of the appendix until Nov. 14, nine days after the presidential election between Trump and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.
As part of their request, lawyers argued that releasing the records while early voting was underway in many states “creates a disturbing appearance of election interference.”
Chutkan rejected that argument Thursday, writing that Trump’s request for a delay actually posed a greater risk of affecting the election.
“There is no doubt that there is a public interest in the courts not intervening in elections, or appearing to do so,” Chutkan wrote. “But the collateral effects of litigation on politics are not the same as intentional interference by courts in politics.”
“As a result, the relief sought by defendants actually risks harming the public interest,” she wrote.
“If a court withholds information to which the public has a right to access solely because of the potential political impact of its release, the withholding itself may amount to, or appear to constitute, election interference. be.”
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