A federal judge will require special counsel Jack Smith to seek permission before filing additional charges in former President Trump's election interference case, but the judge will not allow the court to move forward with charges of contempt of prosecutors. His refusal marked a small victory for the former president.
Trump's attempt to reprimand prosecutors came after Smith filed a motion barring the former president from making certain allegations in court. The motion comes as President Trump is appealing his order, rejecting his own claim that he is immune from prosecution as a former president, before Judge Tanya Chutkan has otherwise suspended proceedings in the case. It was held inside.
Although Chutkan's order suspended deadlines for the case, he said Thursday that other actions, such as submitting evidence needed for the case, “would not move the matter to trial or impose an additional litigation burden on the defendants.” It was found that there was no violation of the order prohibiting further proceedings. ”
“The cease and desist order did not clearly and unequivocally prohibit any government action that defendants objected to,” she wrote.
“Thus, on its own terms, the material validity of the stay order did not specifically preclude the government from complying voluntarily, rather than mandatorily, with the deadlines of the now-suspended pretrial order.'' ” she said.
But Mr. Chutkan took a closer look at Mr. Smith's motion to limit certain claims by Mr. Trump, writing that the new motion would impose some burden on Mr. Trump's legal team.
“A diligent defense attorney must conduct a preliminary examination of each substantive motion the government brings forward to know whether further action needs to be taken. It's not a huge burden, but it is an obvious one.” ,” she wrote.
“Accordingly, the court will adopt defendant's recommendation to prohibit the parties from filing further substantive pretrial motions without first asking the court for a stay.”
From now on, the parties will first seek permission from the court to determine whether their motion is “ancillary to a pending appeal and therefore requires timely action or other action before the power of attorney is returned.” It is necessary to clarify what
Trump went further, demanding that prosecutors justify why he shouldn't be held in contempt or forced to withdraw the motion.
They also argued that Mr. Smith should pay Mr. Trump's legal costs for drafting a brief requesting Mr. Chutkan's intervention.
President Trump's case is largely on ice, as he has appealed against President Chutkhan's order to dismiss the lawsuit over immunity claims.
Trump appeared last week before a panel of appeals court judges who considered the issue and expressed little skepticism that Trump still enjoys the immunity afforded to sitting presidents. .
The commission has not yet ruled on the matter.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
