Special counsel Jack Smith files ‘oversized motion’ in Trump’s federal election prosecution

Special counsel Jack Smith’s team filed a roughly 180-page brief on Thursday in his revised criminal prosecution against former President Donald Trump over the contest of the 2020 election results.

The contents of the massive legal filing were under seal, but it is possible that some of it may be made public in the coming weeks, just before the Nov. 5 election.

Mr. Smith’s legal team was given the green light by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, an Obama appointee, earlier this week to file the oversized motion. The normal limit is 45 pages.

The federal government said it expected to use the extra pages to provide the court with “a detailed factual proffer” with attached exhibits following the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity this summer.

“For the court’s awareness, the opening brief and its exhibits contain a substantial amount of sensitive material, as defined by the protective order,” stated the feds’ filing earlier this week. It said the government intended to file under seal an unredacted copy of the motion and appendix, “and proposed redacted versions,” later on the public docket at the court’s direction.

As of the 5 p.m. filing deadline on Thursday, no public document was available on the docket.

Mr. Smith’s spokesperson Peter Carr confirmed that he met the deadline. 

Mr. Trump’s team protested the oversized motion, saying that the government “aims to proffer their untested and biased views to the court and the public as if they are conclusive.”

During a Sept. 5 hearing, Mr. Smith’s team defended their updated indictment accusing Mr. Trump of conspiring to overthrow the 2020 election results. 

The indictment has been rewritten in light of a Supreme Court ruling in July that seemed to undercut some of Mr. Smith’s core accusations against the former president.

The 6-3 decision by the high court found that a president has immunity for core official acts and presumed immunity for some other official conduct, but no immunity for unofficial acts. It was seen as a win for Mr. Trump because it delayed criminal proceedings against him while lower courts grappled with which charges could stand.

Mr. Smith adjusted his indictment against Mr. Trump by removing some official actions from the allegations, such as communications with Justice Department officials. He kept all four original charges: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.

Judge Chutkan said during the roughly 80-minute hearing earlier this month that it was too early to settle on a trial date.