Donald Trump and his legal team have voiced strong objections to the release of new evidence that special counsel Jack Smith wants to make public, according to court filings and legal analyses. On Tuesday, Trump’s attorneys submitted a seven-page response in a Washington, D.C. federal court opposing a 180-page document that Smith, who is leading the federal election interference case against the former president, hopes to file on the public docket.
Trump’s lawyers argued, “The true motivation driving the efforts by the Special Counsel’s Office to disseminate witness statements that they previously sought to lock down is as obvious as it is inappropriate.” They claim that Smith’s office is trying to release politically motivated information, stating, “The Office wants their politically motivated manifesto to be public… in the final weeks of the 2024 Presidential election while early voting has already begun.”
This response follows a nine-page argument from Smith last week, in which he urged Judge Tanya Chutkan to allow the release of a redacted version of the 180-page case summary due to significant public interest. The sealed document reportedly contains new evidence, including grand jury transcripts and FBI notes from witnesses like Vice President Mike Pence and Ivanka Trump.
In his latest filing, Smith contended that the public deserves access to a redacted version of the evidence, especially in such a high-profile case. Trump’s legal team, however, views this as a tactic to damage his 2024 presidential campaign.
National security attorney Bradley Moss commented on the development, noting on X (formerly Twitter), “Reading through this thing, I think it’s safe to say Trump’s lawyers definitely don’t want DOJ’s filing to go public.” Additionally, Allison Gill, host of the political podcast Mueller, She Wrote, remarked that Trump is now contradicting his previous stance. “Today, as predicted, he has changed his mind now that DoJ has called his bluff,” Gill wrote, referencing Trump’s earlier complaints about the Justice Department keeping evidence sealed.
MSNBC legal analyst Glenn Kirschner also weighed in, warning that major developments could be on the horizon. “Today is the first deadline for Trump’s lawyers to file objections… We could see it all by tomorrow,” he stated, adding, “Buckle-up buttercup, your ride’s about to get a whole lot bumpier.”
Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election ahead of the January 6 Capitol riots.
