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Donald Trump is trying to delay the release of more documents in his election interference case.
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Trump’s lawyers argued in a lawsuit that evidence is used in Kamala Harris ads.
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Trump’s lawyers asked a judge to delay the release of documents until after the election.
Donald Trump is fighting to delay a new release of evidence from prosecutors in the 2020 election interference case against him.
In a court filing Thursday, Trump’s lawyers asked a federal judge to delay the release of more documents from special counsel Jack Smith until Nov. 14 — nine days after the 2024 presidential election.
In the filing with U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, Trump’s lawyers complained that his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, has used the recently released evidence from prosecutors in the case in political ads.
“The sitting Vice President — whose administration serves as the special counsel — also began featuring the special counsel’s letter in political advertisements for the 2024 presidential election,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in the filing.
“So without any semblance of due process — including President Trump’s right to cross-examine witnesses and call his own witnesses in a legal proceeding — the public has been poisoned by a one-sided persecution narrative created by the government for political purposes is used. incumbent administration,” Trump’s lawyers added.
There is no indication that Harris, whose campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment, coordinated anything with Smith’s team. The January 6 prosecution predated Harris’ late emergence as the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate.
A spokesperson for Smith’s team declined to comment. But in the past, the special counsel has directly challenged Trump’s claims that he was trying to influence the election.
“Defendant’s opposition includes his standard and unsupported refrain that the government’s position is motivated by improper political considerations. That accusation is false,” Smith’s team wrote in an earlier filing about how the documents had to be redacted before being released.
Chutkan has previously warned Trump’s team for apparently pushing conspiracy theories in their arguments.
“This focus is not only unresponsive and unhelpful to the court, but is also inconsistent with an experienced defense and undermines the judicial process in this case,” Chutkan wrote in her ruling on the redactions earlier this month.
She added that Trump’s side had an opportunity to make its position clear on political motivations, and that now was the time to focus on the legal arguments.
Trump’s campaign has turned the former president’s fight into fundraising efforts. Some of Trump’s best fundraising days this cycle have involved major events tied to his various lawsuits, underscoring how the former president himself benefits from blurring the line between his prosecutions and his 2024 campaign.
Earlier this month, Chutkan released a partially redacted 165-page motion detailing a wealth of evidence against Trump in the election interference case.
The motion — in which Smith and his team argued that Trump is not immune from criminal charges related to his efforts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election — includes a breakdown of Trump’s alleged pressure campaign against his then-vice president, Mike Pence.
Additionally, the court documents said Trump responded, “So what?” after an aide told him Pence was in danger and rushed to a safe location during the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
Harris’ campaign has since used details from Smith’s motion, along with headlines about it, in a recent online political ad that also included the alleged “So what?” of Trump was emphasized. answer.
According to Politico, Harris’ campaign digitally aired the ad titled “Bombshell” in swing states.
Trump’s lawyers argued in Thursday’s court filing that the “asymmetric release of indictments and related documents during early voting creates a troubling appearance of election interference.”
“These concerns are particularly pressing given the targeted and persistent and false use of these procedures by the sitting Vice President in election advertisements,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.
Lawyers for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
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