U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Thursday agreed to unseal additional filings from special counsel Jack Smith laying out his election interference case against former President Trump, something Trump’s attorneys signaled they plan to challenge.
Chutkan agreed to a request from Smith to unseal exhibits that accompany his 180-page brief asserting that prosecutors can still bring much of their Jan. 6 case against Trump in the wake of a Supreme Court decision granting former presidents broad criminal immunity.
Smith argues Trump’s efforts to thwart the transfer of power were the unlawful actions of a private citizen, not of a president.
Chutkan granted Smith’s motion to post redacted versions of the exhibits, something that could include grand jury transcripts, texts and other evidence assembled by prosecutors.
“The court determines that the Government’s proposed redactions to the Appendix are appropriate, and that Defendant’s blanket objections to further unsealing are without merit. As the court has stated previously, ‘Defendant’s concern with the political consequences of these proceedings’ is not a cognizable legal prejudice,’” she wrote.
Trump opposed both the unsealing of Smith’s motion as well as the accompanying evidence.
