Last week, we reported that Special Counsel Jack Smith had made a motion to file an especially long document outlining the evidence against Donald Trump in the January 6 case.
We expected Trump to try to block the information from being made public, and he did, but Judge Chutkan released the filing before Trump could appeal.
Talking Points…
- Trump files motion to block release
- Judge Chutkan releases information
- Analysis
Special Counsel Jack Smith's filing was literally a novel, a total of 165 pages and about three times the length of a typical filing. We all knew this was going to be Donald Trump's October surprise, which is why Trump's legal team immediately filed a motion to block the release of the filing to the public before the election. The filing stated:
"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.
"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 throughout the United States."
Smith's team immediately responded:
"The defendant's opposition includes his standard and unsupported refrain that the Government's position is motivated by improper political considerations. That allegation is false—just as it was false when the Court denied the defendant's motion to dismiss the case on grounds of selective and vindictive prosecution.
"The Special Counsel's mandate is to uphold the law. It has no role or interest in partisan politics and has faithfully executed its prosecutorial duties in this case."
Just as I expected, Judge Chutkan did not take much time to decide, and she ruled that the document could be released to the public, a crushing blow to Donald Trump. She also released the information before Trump even had a chance to appeal her decision. Trump has argued that the DOJ rule does not allow the release of any information within 60 days that could influence an election, but Chutkan has made it very clear she could care less that Trump is a presidential candidate.
The other thing going against Trump here is that this is not a new case, so I am not even sure that the DOJ rule applies here. This case has been litigated for months, which is how I am sure Chutkan will justify releasing the information. After the filing was released, Trump went ballistic, stating:
"Democrats are Weaponizing the Justice Department against me because they know I am WINNING, and they are desperate to prop up their failing Candidate, Kamala Harris. The DOJ pushed out this latest 'hit job' today because JD Vance humiliated Tim Walz last night in the Debate.
"This is egregious PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT, and should not have been released right before the Election. The Democrat Party is turning America into a Third World Country that tries to censor, harass, and intimidate their Political Opponents. What they have done to our Justice System is one of the Great, All Time, Tragedies."
Trump added:
"They are trying to DESTROY OUR DEMOCRACY, allowing millions of people to enter our Country illegally. They are determined to stop us from winning back the White House, sealing the Border, and MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. BUT THEY WILL FAIL, AND WE WILL SAVE OUR NATION!"
The filing is damaging for Trump, so the question now becomes whether undecided voters will pay attention to it or discard it. With Trump and Harris in a virtual tie in just about every key battleground state, this could be the difference maker for voters. The solace for Trump is that the report came out a full month before the election, so there is time for damage control. Honestly, at this point, if I were advising Trump, I would tell him to ignore it and stop drawing attention to it so it disappears from the news cycle. The more he complains about it, the more it makes people believe he is worried about it, which will only give the report more legitimacy.
Stay focused, stay on policy, and keep attacking. If he goes off the rails over this, he is handing the election to Harris. And if Harris wins this election, I am not sure the GOP will ever be able to recover, especially because Trump losing the White House would likely impact congressional races and hand the government completely over to Democrats.
