CNN Senior Legal Analyst Ellie Honig reported Friday that Judge Tanya Chutkan will present a redacted document of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s evidence against former President Donald Trump as the November election approaches. He said he was not aware of any “precedent” for the publication of the same.
President Trump opposed releasing the materials so close to the election, but Chutkan argued that withholding the materials would amount to “election interference.” Speaking on CNN News Central, Honig argued that whether the release constitutes interference is a matter of interpretation. (Related article: Jack Smith’s attitude toward releasing witness testimony was for “political purposes,” Trump lawyers claim)
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“I can’t think of any precedent where a court would announce something and change it two weeks before a presidential election. Judge Chutkan addresses that issue in her decision. She essentially said, ‘If I… If we were to pause this, it would be unusual.” Therefore, I intend to conduct business as usual. “It’s really just in the eye of the beholder, Alex,” Honig told host Alex Marquardt. “I think Donald Trump’s team is saying, ‘Why didn’t you just lock this up for another 18 or 20 days, regardless of the election?'”
“That’s what actually happened in the hush money case. The judge over there said, ‘I’m not going to sentence you weeks before an election.’ I plan on punting until the end of November. “Mr. Trump’s team said Judge Chutkan should do the same,” he added. “Judge Chutkan disagreed. Judge Chutkan said, “If we change the normal schedule to not remove this before the election,” that would be election interference. It’s really a Rorschach test.”
The evidence consists of four heavily redacted pieces of evidence appendix document Over 1,800 pages published in total docketfeatures public information such as President Trump’s tweets, correspondence, and portions of his January 6th committee testimony.
“When a court withholds information to which the public has a right to access solely because of the potential political impact of its release, that withholding itself constitutes election interference,” Chutkan wrote in Thursday’s order. , or it may seem that way.” night. “Thus, courts will continue to exclude political considerations from their decision-making, rather than incorporating them as a defendant’s request.”
Mr. Chutkan also announced Mr. Smith’s lengthy motion for presidential immunity on October 2, detailing the evidence the special counsel will present at trial. Honig later appeared on CNN and called the release “unusual,” writing: article This was headlined in the Intelligencer magazine as “Jack Smith’s October Cheap Shot”.
Trump’s lawyers opposed the release of the documents, arguing that it amounted to “blatant and inappropriate interference in the election.”
“At this time, no further so-called ‘evidence’ will be disclosed that the Office of the Special Counsel illegally cherry-picked and mischaracterized in connection with the improper presidential immunity application during early voting for the 2024 presidential election.” should not be based on criminal proceedings or case law,” his attorney said in an Oct. 10 filing.
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