(USNewsMag.com) – Former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination, filed what he and his campaign have described as a “powerhouse” motion requesting that a judge hold the special counsel leading Trump’s federal probe to be in contempt of court.
Trump’s attorneys filed the motion on Thursday, Jan. 4, against Special Counsel Jack Smith, arguing that a federal judge should hold him in contempt of court for violating a stay order during Smith’s investigation into the 2020 presidential election. The case against Trump is currently paused as the former president’s legal team is in the middle of an appeal, arguing that Trump is protected from prosecution by presidential immunity. The case is set to officially start on March 4.
One of Trump’s attorneys, John Lauro, wrote in the filing that the stay order against Smith was “clear, straightforward, and unambiguous,” but that Smith’s prosecution team “began violating” the order “almost immediately” by serving “thousands of pages of additional discovery” and a draft of an “exhibit list” within five days of the court’s order to pause the proceedings.
Trump “rejected” the “productions” of the prosecutors as “unlawful” and threatened to “seek relief” if Smith’s team continued with its “malicious conduct” by violating the Stay Order. Lauro compared Smith’s motion to the “dishonest talking points” of the Biden administration “falsely” asserting that Trump “was responsible” for what happened in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, even though the former president “called for peaceful and patriotic assembly” that day and not riots.
Lauro argues that a contempt of court decision against Smith is necessary because he and prosecutors are trying to “weaponize” the Stay Order by spreading “political propaganda” while knowing Trump “would not fully respond” because of the order.
Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump, described the motion to Fox News as “a
powerhouse” filing meant to hold Smith accountable, whom he called “Crooked Joe Biden’s henchman.” According to Cheung, Smith decided to disrespect “the rule of law” by disobeying the order and continuing “his harassing litigation” against Trump by parroting the talking points of President Biden’s campaign.
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