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Lawyers for Donald Trump on Thursday filed papers charging federal prosecutors with contempt of court, accusing them of ignoring a judge's order to pause proceedings in a 2020 election fraud case. The move represents another striking moment in the battle between the former president and his courtroom nemesis, special counsel Jack Smith, even if it seems like a long shot.
Trump's lawyers said Smith should be found in contempt for continuing to file legal papers even after Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered the pause while they pursued a claim of immunity through other courts. “The stay order is clear, distinct and unambiguous,” wrote lead attorney John F. Lauro. 'All substantive proceedings before this court have been halted. Despite this clarity, prosecutors began violating the stay almost immediately.”
Trump is accused of conspiring to defraud the United States, obstructing official proceedings of Congress and violating a Reconstruction-era civil rights law in the Washington, DC case. It was paused last month, although Chutkan said she still expected a trial to begin in March. Still, Smith's team filed a motion on December 27 asking that Trump be barred from engaging in “partisan political attacks.”
That included a footnote acknowledging the pause and saying the filing was ready for when the case resumed. The Trump campaign described it as “intimidating litigation” and said Trump would be successful in his immunity claim.
Spokesman Steven Cheung said: “Rather than respect the rule of law, Jack Smith decided to unilaterally ignore the stay order and continue with his harassing lawsuits, all done to continue parroting the pathetic Biden campaign's corrupt talking points in the name of election interference . .
“As a result, President Trump is seeking to hold Deranged Jack in contempt of court. No prosecutor is above the law.” The motion also said prosecutors turned over thousands of pages of evidence and a list of exhibits while the case was on pause, calling it “outrageous conduct.”
“In this way, Plaintiffs seek to weaponize the stay to spread political propaganda, knowing that President Trump would not respond fully because the Court relieved him of the burden of the lawsuits during the stay,” Trump's lawyers wrote. “Worse, prosecutors have announced their intention to continue this partisan misconduct indefinitely, effectively turning this court's role into part of the Biden campaign.”
Trump had already attacked Smith for filing the motion while the case was on hold. “Crooked Joe Biden's errand boy, deranged Jack Smith, is obsessed with attacking your favorite president, me, and meddling in the 2024 presidential election, which I dominate,” he wrote on Truth Social.
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