Special Counsel Jack Smith filed what was believed to be hundreds of pages of evidence intended to prove that former President Trump committed criminal acts outside the scope of presidential immunity in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The entire filing was submitted to federal district court Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, D.C. under seal — meaning the public won't see any of that evidence until she reviews it and determines which portions contain information exempt from public disclosure.
The filing is in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's July decision along ideological lines that presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution. Smith's team subsequently filed new indictments intended to comply with the ruling, but now must show that the alleged criminal conduct was unofficial or outside the president's so-called core constitutional functions that prosecuting it poses no danger "to the authority or functions of the executive branch."
Prosecutors said earlier this month that they intended to present a "detailed factual proffer" — including grand jury transcripts and multiple exhibits — to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in hopes of persuading her that the allegations in the indictment should not be dismissed and should remain part of the case.
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A spokesman for the Smith team, Peter Carr, confirmed that prosecutors had met their 5 p.m. deadline for filing a brief.
Though the brief is not currently accessible to the public, prosecutors have said they intend to file a redacted version that could be made available later, raising the prospect that previously unseen allegations from the case could be made public in the final weeks before the November election.
The Trump team has vigorously objected to the filing, calling it unnecessary and saying it could lead to the airing of unflattering details in the "sensitive" pre-election time period.
"The Court does not need 180 pages of 'great assistance' from the Special Counsel's Office to develop the record necessary to address President Trump's Presidential immunity defense," Trump's lawyers wrote, calling it "tantamount to a premature and improper Special Counsel report."
The brief is the opening salvo in a restructured criminal case following the Supreme Court's opinion in July that said former presidents are presumptively immune for official acts they take in office but are not immune for their private acts.
In their new indictment, Smith's team ditched certain allegations related to Trump's interactions with the Justice Department but left the bulk of the case intact, arguing that the remaining acts — including Trump's hectoring of his vice president, Mike Pence, to refuse to certify the counting of electoral votes — do not deserve immunity protections.
Chutkan is now responsible for deciding which acts left in the indictment, including allegations that Trump participated in a scheme to enlist fake electors in battleground states he lost, are official acts and therefore immune from prosecution or private acts.
She has acknowledged that her decisions are likely to be subject to additional appeals to the Supreme Court.
