During his federal trial for election subversion in 2020, former president Donald Trump will be defending himself by claiming he was a victim of political persecution and spreading false information, but prosecutors from the Justice Department said they want to stop him from doing so.
On Wednesday, prosecutors continued to prepare for the impending criminal trial of Trump by outlining some of the critical parameters they are seeking in a new court file. The filing was made by special counsel Jack Smith’s office.
Prosecutors argued that the court should not let the defendant use the proceedings to spread false information and should reject his efforts to bring politics into the case.
Prosecutors have speculated that the ex-president is attempting to politicise the trial in order to have the jurors find him not guilty based on any legal standard but on their disagreement with the prosecution, rather than the facts of the case.
Additionally, prosecutors have asked the court to prevent Trump from implying that the case was politically motivated and directed by the Biden administration.
“Despite the defendant’s wishes, the focus of this trial ought to remain on the facts and the law, not on politics,” stated the prosecution.
Because of the ongoing appeal over the applicability of presidential immunity to protect Trump from prosecution, the majority of the case’s proceedings have been halted.
Before Trump’s trial, which is currently set for March 2024, the matter regarding presidential safeguards, which he intends to utilise in his defence, must be resolved. No decision made by the appeals court will likely escape review by the highest court in the land.
However, Smith’s office has been consistently meeting the case’s deadlines, suggesting that they are hoping to retain the trial scheduled for this spring, barring a speedy resolution to the appeals.
Prosecutors on Smith’s team cited statements made by Trump and his legal team, either in court or throughout the campaign, to support their case. One of these statements was that Trump believed the election was being stolen and should not be charged.
To prevent witnesses from offering speculation about Trump’s mental health in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, prosecutors urged the judge to limit their testimony to their direct observations of the former president.
On January 6, 2021, the US Capitol was attacked. They also brought up remarks made by Trump and his team that blamed “law enforcement, military forces, unidentified secret agents, and foreign influence” for the incident.
“A bank robber has no legal recourse if he claims the security guard failed to apprehend him. The prosecution cannot argue that the people who fell for the defendant’s scam should have known better. According to their statement, the defendant is unable to claim that the violence and obstruction he committed might have been avoided had law police intervened.
Prosecutors claimed that Trump was unaware of “undercover actors” among the mob at the time of the assault, and he has failed to provide proof that rioters were driven by outside forces “rather than his own lies.”
Among the four charges against Trump are conspiracies to defraud the US and hinder an official process. The ex-president entered a not-guilty plea.