Judge in Trump 2020 election case unseals more evidence from special counsel

On Friday, the judge presiding over President Donald Trump’s 2020 election meddling case unveiled a massive collection of extensively redacted documents along with further evidence gathered by special counsel Jack Smith. The four volumes of an appendix that Smith’s prosecutors filed with a motion over presidential immunity that was made public earlier this month include the 1,889 pages of content that Trump’s legal team had hoped to keep secret. The case is being handled by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who last week ordered the redacted appendix to be unsealed but postponed its release to allow Trump to challenge her ruling.

Transcripts of court proceedings, case-related interviews and speeches, and other source material are among the new papers. Smith had stated that hundreds of pages in the published edition are still under seal, and that a large portion of the appendix contains private material that should be kept secret. Transcripts of grand jury testimony and FBI interviews are probably among the information that is protected by a protective order that was granted at the beginning of the case last year.

However, a large number of the documents contain publicly accessible data, such as voting tabulations and tweets from Trump and other case participants. Prosecutors also brought up Trump’s January 6, 2021, statement outside the White House, where he informed a group of supporters that he had won
the election and said “we’re going to the Capitol.”

In an order published Thursday, Chutkan reaffirmed her decision to make the appendix public, stating that “all facets of criminal court proceedings” are presumed to be accessible to the public. Trump’s legal team attempted to keep the documents secret, claiming that their disclosure might affect the 2024 presidential race. Chutkan said she did not believe their reasons were strong and that she would not allow political factors to impact the case.

When Trump was first charged last year, authorities claimed he and his supporters planned a massive effort to rescind the 2020 election results. For months, the case was put on hold as Trump’s attorneys contended that he shouldn’t be charged. Over the summer, the Supreme Court ruled that presidents are exempt from prosecution for “official acts” committed while in office. Smith complied with the court’s ruling by filing a new indictment with fewer accusations. The next step for Chutkan is to decide if Trump is immune under the Supreme Court’s rules. He entered a not guilty plea.

On October 2, a motion submitted by Smith’s team seeking Chutkan to conclude that Trump is not exempt from prosecution was released. The deadline for Trump’s attorneys to respond is November 7, which is two days after Election Day. According to a filing by his lawyers, Chutkan should refrain from disclosing any more details about the case since “the asymmetric release of charged allegations and related documents during early voting creates a concerning appearance of election.”

However, Chutkan stated that since Trump and his team are free to offer their own facts and legal arguments, the court is not restricting the public’s access to one side of the issue. Chutkan also largely dismissed Trump’s request in a second ruling on Wednesday that prosecutors find and provide more evidence he felt would help his defense. According to Chutkan, prosecutors might not have the information in their hands or might have already searched for it. Trump’s fruitless demands for evidence included details regarding suspected undercover agents at the Capitol on January 6. According to Chutkan, the former president “does not provide anything more than speculation that there even were any such undercover actors” at the Capitol during the assault by Trump’s supporters.