Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers compared special counsel Jack Smith to the Grinch in a court filing Wednesday for trying to expedite the appeals process in one of his criminal cases, saying that prosecutors are trying to disrupt their holiday travel plans and to “disenfranchise” voters in 2024.
Earlier this week, Smith’s team asked the DC US Circuit Court of Appeals to expedite its review of whether Trump has any immunity from criminal prosecution for alleged crimes he committed while in office. The issue was raised in the 2020 election subversion criminal case against Trump, who also has been indicted by Smith’s office for alleged mishandling of national security secrets.
“The prosecution has one goal in this case: To unlawfully attempt to try, convict, and sentence President Trump before an election in which he is likely to defeat President Biden,” defense attorneys wrote in the filing. “This represents a blatant attempt to interfere with the 2024 presidential election and to disenfranchise the tens of millions of voters who support President Trump’s candidacy.”
They continued, “This proposed schedule would require attorneys and support staff to work round-the-clock through the holidays, inevitably disrupting family and travel plans. It is as if the Special Counsel “growled, with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming, ‘I must find some way to keep Christmas from coming. … But how?’”
Smith and Trump have repeatedly butted heads over the pace of the criminal case, and when the trial will actually take place. Though the trial is currently scheduled to take place in March 2024, defense lawyers have consistently pushed to delay the trial until after the election.
A spokesperson for Smith declined to comment.
In addition to the appeals court, Smith’s team has asked the Supreme Court to review District Judge’s Tanya Chutkan’s ruling that as a former president, Trump is not immune from the election subversion prosecution brought in Washington, DC. Lawyers for the former president have argued that Trump’s alleged actions over the 2020 election results were part of his official duties at the time and therefore he is protected by presidential immunity.
Prosecutors also asked the courts to decide whether Trump is protected by double jeopardy. Defense lawyers have asserted that because Trump was acquitted by the Senate during his impeachment trial that he cannot be criminally tried for the same alleged actions.
Both immunity questions likely need to be resolved before the trial begins.
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