Special Counsel Jack Smith told Judge Chutkan that Trump is trying to prejudice the jury pool for his Washington, DC trial.
Smith and federal prosecutors wrote in a new motion to the court, “In his Motion to Vacate, the defendant instead suggests an unworkable three-week briefing process for the Court to decide whether every ordinary filing that refers to Sensitive Materials may be docketed. See ECF No. 48 at 1. Such a requirement would grind litigation in this case to a halt, which is particularly infeasible given the pressing matters before the Court—including the defendant’s daily extrajudicial statements that threaten to prejudice the jury pool in this case, as described in the Government’s motion. See ECF No. 47-3. The Court should deny the defendant’s motion.”
Smith and DOJ prosecutors are arguing that the more time is given, the more opportunity he will have to contaminate the jury pool, which is exactly what Trump is trying to do in his appearances and social media posts. It might be completely impossible to put a gag order on a presidential candidate who is leading a party primary, but massive fines and sanctions have shut Trump up before. Trump is abusing his campaign platform to potentially tamper with witnesses and contaminate jury pools.
Jack Smith knows what Trump is trying to do, and he is pointing it out to the court so that it can be stopped.
