Trump prepares fresh round of attacks on 2020 election indictment

By Zoe Tillman

Donald Trump is preparing fresh attacks against the 2020 election interference case in Washington and wants the next round of courtroom showdowns to wait until after the November presidential contest.
 

In a court filing Friday night with dueling proposals, Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office disagreed with Trump’s approach and said it was prepared to move forward as quickly as possible, but didn’t propose a specific timeline.

US District Judge Tanya Chutkan has set a hearing for Sept. 5 to decide how the case should proceed.

Trump’s lawyers previewed arguments they’ll raise as part of a renewed push to get the indictment dismissed. They contend the case still contains allegations related to Trump’s official duties as president, actions which the Supreme Court held this summer carry at least some immunity from prosecution. 

Trump is charged with conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results. Smith this week announced a revised indictment that removed claims related to Trump’s communications with the Justice Department and executive branch officials, but left intact much of the original case. Trump’s lawyers signaled they would especially focus on Smith’s decision to leave in allegations related to Trump’s efforts to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to intervene on his behalf.

The former president’s lawyers will also argue that Smith’s appointment and funding violate the US Constitution, hoping to build off their recent success in the special counsel’s other case against Trump in Florida. Citing the appointment issue, US District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the Florida indictment charging Trump with willfully holding onto classified documents after he left the White House and obstructing government efforts to get the records back.

Smith has appealed Cannon’s decision to the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals, where a three-judge panel isn’t expected to rule before the Nov. 5 election, based on its schedule.

Trump’s lawyers want Chutkan to address the appointment issue before the immunity fight, proposing a hearing in early December followed by arguments on the immunity issue in late January. They said they would need more time to look for new evidence relevant to immunity and would want an opportunity to question Smith’s witnesses and possibly call their own.

Schedule Clash
 

The Trump team’s proposed schedule could stretch into fall 2025. 

Smith’s office disagreed, writing that Trump’s arguments for why the case should be dismissed should be briefed at the same time, and then Chutkan could decide when to rule. Prosecutors wrote they were prepared to file an opening brief on the immunity question “promptly at any time the Court deems appropriate.”

Before Chutkan rejected Trump’s immunity claim in December, the former president’s lawyers had raised other legal challenges, including related to counts charging him with obstructing an official proceeding that the Supreme Court narrowed in a different case this year. Trump’s lawyers are preparing to argue that the high court’s ruling means the obstruction counts should fall.

The federal election obstruction case is one of four criminal cases filed against Trump since he left office in 2021. A state indictment in Georgia related to the 2020 election has been mired in a controversy over the conduct of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and won’t reach a trial before November.

In New York, a jury found Trump guilty this year of falsifying business records to conceal a hush-money payment to a porn star. He is due to be sentenced Sept. 18 but is seeking to postpone that until after the election. His lawyers argue that the US Supreme Court’s immunity ruling applies to the Manhattan prosecution.