If only legal motions were like ketchup…
On the heels of failing to secure dismissal of the indictment based on his Presidential Immunity, Trump’s legal team must have realized they don’t have all the time in the world.
The New York Times
The lawyers claimed, largely citing news articles, that President Biden had pressured the Justice Department to pursue a “nakedly political” selective prosecution of Mr. Trump. They asserted that prosecutors in the office of the special counsel, Jack Smith, had failed to prove any of the three conspiracy counts brought against the former president.
And they argued that under the principle of double jeopardy, Mr. Trump could not be tried on the election interference charges since he had already been acquitted by the Senate on many of the same accusations during his second impeachment.
The lawyers also tried to persuade Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, who is overseeing the case, that the allegations against Mr. Trump, accusing him of wielding lies about election fraud in a vast campaign to pressure others to help him stay in power, were based on examples of “core political speech” and were therefore protected by the First Amendment.
The following documents were posted yesterday to the District Court Docket:
- PRESIDENT TRUMP’S MOTION TO DISMISS THE INDICTMENT BASED ON CONSTITUTIONAL GROUNDS AND MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT
- PRESIDENT TRUMP’S MOTION TO DISMISS THE INDICTMENT BASED ON STATUTORY GROUNDS AND MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT
- PRESIDENT TRUMP’S MOTION TO STRIKE INFLAMMATORY ALLEGATIONS FROM THE INDICTMENT AND MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT
- PRESIDENT TRUMP’S MOTION TO DISMISS FOR SELECTIVE AND VINDICTIVE PROSECUTION
It’s going to take awhile to digest all of that. I’ve an errand to run before I even start. In the meantime, here’s Newsweek’s take.
Donald Trump is seeking to have his Washington, D.C. election interference case quashed, calling it a "vindictive prosecution."
Much of his submission, filed early on Tuesday, hangs on whether alternative electors are a criminal conspiracy or a symbolic act of defiance that is rooted in American history.
(snip)
"There are no other prosecutions in American history relating to these types of activities. The allegations in the indictment involve constitutionally authorized activities by President Trump as Commander in Chief, as well as speech and expressive conduct by the First Amendment."
(snip)
Trump is now saying that the alternate electors who signed off a Trump victory across the U.S. were engaged in symbolic free speech to show their disapproval of Biden and the way that the election was run.