Month: December 2023

Special counsel Jack Smith wrote in a court filing on Wednesday that Donald Trump shouldn’t be allowed to make “irrelevant” claims targeting President Joe Biden or say others are to blame for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot during his federal election interference trial.

The filing states: “Through public statements, filings and argument in hearings before the court, the defense has attempted to inject into this case partisan political attacks and irrelevant and prejudicial issues that have no place in a jury trial. Although the court can recognize these efforts for what they are and disregard them, the jury — if subjected to them — may not. The court should not permit the defendant to turn the courtroom into a forum in which he propagates irrelevant disinformation, and should reject his attempt to inject politics into this proceeding.”

Smith’s team argues in the filing that Trump should be barred from using “terminology such as the ‘Injustice Department,’ ‘Biden Indictment’ or similar phrases” in front of the jury. The special counsel argues that Trump has suggested “he intends to impeach the integrity of the investigation by raising wholly false claims such as the government’s nonexistent ‘coordination with the Biden administration’ and other empty allegations recycled from the selective and vindictive prosecution motion that he based on anonymous sources in newspaper articles.”

In August, Trump pleaded not guilty to the special counsel’s criminal charges attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The former president has denied all wrongdoing and denounced the charges as “a persecution of a political opponent.” Trump also responded to the filing in a statement Wednesday, claiming the prosecution is ignoring Judge Chutkan’s instructions to stay the election subversion case:  “[I]t is so sad that the Supreme Court just unanimously rejected his desperate attempt to rush this Witch Hunt, that he is ignoring the law and clear instructions from District Court Judge Chutkan, who unequivocally stated that this ‘case’ is stayed and there should be no litigation.” 

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On Wednesday, the Michigan Supreme Court rejected an effort to remove former President Donald Trump from the state’s primary ballot in 2024.  The order says the court declines to hear a case arguing that Trump should be left off of the state’s ballot because it is “not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by this court.” The court’s order blocks efforts to remove Trump from the 2024 ballot under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.

The order comes after the Michigan Court of Appeals this month similarly rejected challenges to Trump’s spot on the state’s primary ballot. In a 3-0 opinion that cited Michigan law, the appellate court said: “Who to place on the primary ballot is determined by the political parties and the individual candidates.” Courts in Arizona and Minnesota have also ruled against similar efforts to get Trump kicked off the ballot.

The Michigan Supreme Court’s order is in stark contrast with the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision last week barring Trump’s candidacy in the state’s primary next year on constitutional grounds. Trump himself applauded the Michigan Supreme Court’s order in a post on his ‘Truth Social’ platform Wednesday morning, saying that the court has “strongly and rightfully denied the Desperate Democrat attempt to take the leading Candidate in the 2024 Presidential Election, me, off the ballot in the Great State of Michigan. This pathetic gambit to rig the Election has failed all across the Country, including in States that have historically leaned heavily toward the Democrats. Colorado is the only State to have fallen prey to the scheme.”

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