“Trump’s Lawyers Push Back Hard Against Shocking New Election Indictment!”

Donald Trump’s legal team pushed back hard Thursday against the revised D.C. election interference indictment he faces, using a legal filing on evidentiary issues to argue the case threatens the office of the presidency and should be dropped.

In a late-night filing to U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, Trump’s attorneys wrote that special counsel Jack Smith did not go far enough when he responded to the Supreme Court ruling this summer that expanded the scope of presidential immunity.

Smith filed a new superseding indictment in August against Trump, getting rid of allegations that he felt would be considered official presidential acts under the ruling and cannot be prosecuted.

But Trump’s lawyers wrote that the special counsel continues to present “baseless legal positions” that conflict with the justices’ opinion. The defense lawyers argued that immunity for official acts is absolute, and conversations and interactions about the 2020 presidential election between Trump and then-Vice President Mike Pence should be considered official acts that cannot be prosecuted.

Smith is expected to defend his decision to include the Pence interactions in the superseding indictment next week, in a filing that will lay out his arguments for what the former president is allowed to be charged with under the Supreme Court decision. The indictment described Pence acting in his role as president of the Senate when Trump communicated with him about the results of the 2020 election — not as Trump’s second-in-command in the White House.

The purpose of presidential immunity is to ensure that presidents can confidently carry out their duties without fear of being prosecuted for doing their jobs. Even introducing evidence that could show that interactions between Trump and Pence are allowed to be prosecuted, Trump’s lawyers argued, could risk undermining presidential authority.

“Dismissal is required to protect the integrity of the Presidency and the upcoming election, as well as the Constitutional rights of President Trump and the American people,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.

Trump was indicted last year with four crimes related to his reported attempts to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election win: conspiring to defraud the United States, conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding, obstructing a congressional proceeding and conspiring to stop people from exercising the right to vote and to have their vote counted.

He faces the same four counts in the superseding indictment, with whittled-down evidence.

If Trump is elected to a second term, he could push his Justice Department to drop the case once he is sworn into office.

The special counsel also indicted Trump in Florida over reports that he mishandled classified materials when he left the White House and thwarted government attempts to retrieve the material. But a judge has dismissed the case, saying that Smith was unlawfully appointed. Smith is appealing that decision, and Trump similarly could ask his attorney general to drop the appeal if he again becomes president.

The bulk of Trump’s filing Thursday centered on his arguments that the special counsel team needs to hand over more discovery — evidence that prosecutors have collected and are required to hand over to the defense lawyers so they can build their case.

Prosecutors have said they gave the defense sufficient discovery. But Trump’s team is arguing that, given the Supreme Court’s ruling and the superseding indictment, the special counsel should hand over more evidence. Trump’s lawyers are seeking to rebut claims that certain allegations laid out in the indictment can still be prosecuted under the expanded definition of presidential immunity.

Trump’s lawyers also made requests for discovery related to multiple investigations that they say show a government bias against the former president and 2024 Republican nominee.

Earlier this month, Chutkan held her first hearing since the July 1 Supreme Court decision, allowing each side to propose how they think the case should proceed.

The high court’s ruling was both broad and somewhat vague, leaving Chutkan much discretion to decide which allegations could be prosecuted.

Whatever Chutkan decides almost certainly will be appealed — and eventually brought back to the Supreme Court. Those appeals will be lengthy, ensuring that no trial will take place before the November election — perhaps not until 2026 or later.

Trump’s team asked Chutkan to slow down her timetable for moving forward, saying Smith should not be allowed to file his brief defending his superseding indictment until the issues of discovery are settled.

The court should “reconsider and pause the current schedule until the Special Counsel’s Office establishes that they are in compliance with their discovery obligations,” the filing read.

Chutkan had set Trump’s filing deadline for 5 p.m. Thursday. But the lawyers said in a filing that they thought the deadline was midnight and asked if they could have a few extra hours to submit it.