Name: Federal Judge Unseals Special Counsel's Immunity Filing in Trump Election Case
Uploaded: 2024-10-04T04:25:57.000Z
Description: District of Columbia Judge Tanya Chutkan on Oct. 2 unsealed an extensive filing that special counsel Jack Smith submitted to dispute the idea that former President Donald Trump is immune from prosecution for his allegedly criminal actions following the 2020 presidential election.

Jack Bradley is a Washington correspondent for NTD News based in Washington, D.C. Jack previously anchored "NTD Newsroom" and worked as an assistant producer for the show. 

Jack Bradley

NTD Plus

News

News with integrity, from the U.S. and around the world. Focused reports and analyses that shed light on major issues the world deserves to know. NTD Evening News airs daily at 6 p.m. ET.

NTD Evening News

China’s Broken Promises Loom Over New Trade Deals

David Lam is a national correspondent based in California and a part-time anchor for "NTD Tonight." Before joining NTD he was a financial analyst.

David Lam

Californians React as Trump Calls for Gas Tax Suspension

Arleen Richards is NTD's legal correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City, where she covers all major legal stories. Arleen holds a Doctor of Law (J.D.).


Arleen Richards

Federal Agencies Announce ‘Summer Surge’ of Law Enforcement into DC Ahead of 250th Anniversary

Christina Corona is a California-based reporter for NTD News. She primarily covers California news, politics, and entertainment.  

Christina Corona

Trump Administration Reports Zero Border Releases

Arian Pasdar is an international correspondent for NTD News based in South America. His reporting focuses on immigration and key events in Latin America.

Arian Pasdar

US to Host 1st Ever World Cup Final Halftime Show, Featuring Shakira, Madonna

Savannah Pointer is a politics reporter for The Epoch Times. She can be reached at savannah.pointer@epochtimes.us

Savannah Hulsey Pointer

Jason Perry is an Army veteran and NTD's National Security Correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City. Jason primarily covers border security, national defense, foreign wars, and veterans' issues.

Jason Perry

Health News

Texas Children's Hospital to Open First-Ever Detransition Clinic Under Deal With DOJ

Sam Wang is a Washington correspondent for NTD News based in Washington, D.C. Sam covers politics on Capitol Hill, and U.S.-China relations. 

Sam Wang

Citizens Honor Police for Their Service and Sacrifice

Cary Dunst is the news anchor for NTD Evening News. He is also the co-host of NTD Good Morning.


Cary Dunst

Trump ‘Projecting American Influence and Leadership’ on Iran Issue in Beijing: China Expert

Chris Bob is a reporter for NTD and a host of "Profiles of Service." He is also a small business owner. Chris graduated from Union College with a concentration in politics and religion in Russia and the former Soviet Union.

Chris Bob

Senate Panel Advances Crypto Regulation Bill

Jason Blair is a national correspondent for NTD News based in California. 

Jason Blair

Lawmakers Weigh ‘Sanctuary’ Polices After Woman’s Death in Virginia

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 15)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 14)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 13)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 12)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 11)

Don Ma is an anchor and senior business correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City. Don is the anchor and producer of NTD's "Business Matters," which airs weekdays at 4:30 pm ET.

Don Ma

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 10)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 9)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 8)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 7)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (May 6)

NTD Newsroom comprises teams of reporters, editors, and producers assigned to cover breaking news and other stories.


NTD Newsroom

Fast, compelling, first-hand news from China. China in Focus airs Monday–Friday at 8 p.m. ET.

China in Focus

China Sends Warships to Pacific Drill as Tensions With Japan Rise

Reuters is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages.

Reuters

We present news that is truthful and based on facts, outside of the political fog. Instead of focusing on the negative things happening around us, our mission is to give our viewers a good morning with empathetic and uplifting stories. Our aim is to provide an antidote to negativity by shining a light on the best side of people. We speak to inspiring people who positively impact communities, pursue topics that represent our common human values, and will never miss an opportunity to bring you heartwarming stories.

NTD Good Morning

2 US Embassy Personnel Assigned to Cartel Case Killed in Car Accident

The Associated Press is an American not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. 

The Associated Press

US News

Gunman Kills 8 Children, Including 7 of His Own, in Louisiana Mass Shooting

Flora Hua is a reporter based at NTD's global headquarters in New York City, where she covers China news, U.S.-China relations, and human rights issues. Flora primarily contributes to NTD's "China in Focus."  

Flora Hua

Trump: Seized Iranian Ship May Have ‘A Gift From China’

Joseph Lord is a congressional reporter for The Epoch Times.


Joseph Lord

Aldgra Fredly is a freelance writer covering U.S. and Asia Pacific news for The Epoch Times.

Aldgra Fredly

Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani Hospitalized in Critical Condition: Spokesman

Wildfires Across Georgia and Florida Have Destroyed Nearly 50 Homes and Are Forcing Evacuations

News you can trust from the U.S. and around the world. Critical information and insight. We cover the stories that others don’t. NTD News Today airs Monday–Friday at 11 a.m. ET.

NTD News Today

US Warns of China Hacks via Routers, Smart Devices

Juliet Song is an international correspondent exclusively covering China news for NTD. She primarily contributes to NTD's "China in Focus," covering U.S.-China relations, the Chinese regime's human rights abuses, and domestic unrest inside China.

Juliet Song

2 Americans Among Suspected Communist Rebels Killed in Clashes With Troops, Philippine Officials Say

Ryan Morgan is a reporter for The Epoch Times focusing on military and foreign affairs. He was previously a news writer for NTD. 


Ryan Morgan

Mari Otsu is NTD's White House correspondent based in Washington. 

Mari Otsu

World News

Middle East

Iran

3 US Warships Fend Off Iranian Attacks, Trump Says Ceasefire Still Holds

3 Dead in Suspected Hantavirus Outbreak on Cruise Ship in Atlantic Ocean: WHO

District of Columbia Judge Tanya Chutkan on Oct. 2 unsealed an extensive filing that special counsel Jack Smith submitted to dispute the idea that former President Donald Trump is immune from prosecution for his allegedly criminal actions following the 2020 presidential election.

The filing is one of the first steps for the court in determining what remains of the superseding indictment Smith filed after the Supreme Court's decision in Trump v. United States, which held that presidents enjoy some criminal immunity for official acts.

"Although the defendant was the incumbent President during the charged conspiracies, his scheme was fundamentally a private one," the 165-page <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.258149/gov.uscourts.dcd.258149.252.0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">brief</a> from Smith's team reads.

"Working with a team of private co-conspirators, the defendant acted as a candidate when he pursued multiple criminal means to disrupt, through fraud and deceit, the government function by which votes are collected and counted—a function in which the defendant, as President, had no official role."

Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. In a post on TruthSocial, Trump described the brief as "falsehood-ridden" and unconstitutional.
<h2>Legal Implications</h2>
Smith, in his superseding indictment, removed portions of the original indictment related to Trump’s interactions with the Justice Department. Trump’s attorney, John Lauro, suggested during a status conference on the case with Chutkan on Sept. 5 that she could throw out the superseding indictment for not adhering to the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Smith’s motion purports to offer a “comprehensive account of the defendant’s criminal conduct” and requests that the court “determine that the defendant must stand trial for his private crimes as would any other citizen.” It states that under D.C. circuit precedent, Trump didn’t enjoy immunity in his capacity as someone seeking office.

Chutkan ruled against Lauro's opposition to Smith filing his revised brief after the status conference. In the weeks leading up to the release of the brief, which Trump's legal team described as "oversized," meaning it was larger than usual, Lauro also accused Smith of pursuing a "fundamentally unfair" approach.

Trump's legal team said "the Court should reject them until threshold legal questions identified by the Supreme Court are addressed and discovery is complete."

In a Sept. 24 opinion, Chutkan disagreed and said she would grant the motion to file an oversized brief, saying that its "atypical sequence and size thus both serve the efficient resolution of immunity issues in this case."

Smith's brief maintained that none of the allegations in the indictment were protected by presidential immunity and that "at its core, the defendant's scheme was a private one."

The Supreme Court's immunity ruling set up multiple levels of criminal immunity, with some ambiguity over how the lower court should handle allegations related to former Vice President Mike Pence. More specifically, it <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-939_e2pg.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">held</a> that Trump was presumptively immune for interactions in which the president and vice president discuss their "official responsibilities."

However, it noted that the government could attempt to "rebut" that presumption and left Chutkan with the task of "[assessing] in the first instance whether a prosecution involving Trump’s alleged attempts to influence the Vice President’s oversight of the certification proceeding would pose any dangers of intrusion on the authority and functions of the Executive Branch."

Smith's brief argued that "because the Executive Branch has no role in the certification proceeding ... prosecuting the defendant for his corrupt efforts regarding Pence poses no danger to the Executive Branch's authority or functioning."

Smith said he intends to present evidence of conversations between Trump and Pence "in which they did not discuss Pence's official responsibilities as President of the Senate and instead acted in their private capacities as running mates."

He said that while some interactions fell within the scope of Pence's official role, "the rebuttable presumption of immunity is overcome."
<h2>Pence and Jan. 6</h2>
Much of the brief outlines an alleged scheme to organize slates of "fraudulent electors," which Republicans call "alternate electors," and pressure Pence to not certify the election in his role as president of the U.S. Senate.

It alleges that Trump's team deceived many individuals, including elector nominees.

"Other electors who participated on the conspirators' false assurances that their votes were only a contingency were later surprised to learn that they were used on January 6—and would not have agreed to participate if the conspirators had been truthful about their plan," the briefing reads.

It states that Trump and his co-conspirators "lied to Pence, telling him that there was substantial election fraud and concealing their orchestration of the plan to manufacture fraudulent elector slates, as well as their intention to use the fake slates to attempt to obstruct the congressional certification."

Trump, the brief alleges, "created the tinderbox that he purposely ignited on January 6."

While Trump hasn't been charged with inciting an insurrection, Smith's brief accuses him of causing allegedly unlawful conduct on Jan. 6, 2021, and attempting to take advantage of the riot that ensued.

Pence repeatedly denied having the power to go along with Trump's alleged scheme. Trump, at one point, told Pence that people would hate his "guts," think he's "stupid," and that the former vice president was "too honest," according to the brief.
<h2>Allegations of Deceit</h2>
The filing comes roughly a month before the 2024 presidential election and offers details about communications between Trump, Pence, and his campaign staff.

Smith's filing alleges that Trump repeatedly said things he knew were lies, including allegedly fabricating information about noncitizens voting.

"At trial, the Government will introduce several instances of this pattern, in which the defendant and conspirators' lies were proved by the fact that they made up figures from whole cloth," Smith's brief reads.

It states that one of Trump's campaign advisers told him his claim of a large number of dead people voting in Georgia was false, as well as that a campaign attorney verified that the number was "around 12 and could not be outcome-determinative."

One campaign employee, identified as "P5" in the brief, was allegedly contacted by a colleague at the TCF Center in Detroit who said that they thought a batch of votes was in former Vice President Joe Biden's favor. According to the brief, the employee responded, "Find a reason it isn't."

"When the colleague suggested that there was about to be unrest reminiscent of the Brooks Brothers Riot, a violent effort to stop the vote count in Florida after the 2000 presidential election, P5 responded, 'Make them riot' and 'Do it!!!'" Smith's brief reads.

Trump also mocked his former attorney Sidney Powell in November, according to Smith's filing. At one point, he placed her on mute, mocked her to others, "called her claims 'crazy,' and made a reference to a science fiction series Star Trek when describing her allegations."

It states that Trump had agreed with someone identified as "P9" that Powell's claims were "unreliable and should not be included in lawsuits." Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani issued a statement on Nov. 22 distancing the campaign from Powell.

"She is not a member of the Trump Legal Team. She is not a lawyer for the President in his personal capacity," Giuliani said.

Smith's filing notes that in the following days, Trump promoted lawsuits filed by Powell.

"Nonetheless, the defendant continued to support and publicize [Powell's] knowingly false claims," the filing reads.

<em>From <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/federal-judge-unseals-special-counsels-immunity-filing-in-trump-election-case-5734182">The Epoch Times</a></em>

Latest

Videos

Politics

04_Top Stories

Latest Clips

Federal Judge

Management

Daniel Monaghan is a reporter for NTD News covering culture, social issues, and education. He holds a BA in Political Science and Government.

Daniel Monaghan

2024 Elections

Donald Trump

Trump Indictments

Sam Dorman is a Washington correspondent covering courts and politics for The Epoch Times. You can follow him on X at @EpochofDorman.

Sam Dorman

Latest and breaking news, documentaries, movies, and lifestyle content on NTD+.
 
Empower your knowledge and elevate your spirit with NTD+, your go-to destination for truthful news, insightful documentaries, and captivating lifestyle content that enriches your life.