This is adapted excerpt from MSNBC’s Oct. 2 special coverage.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan unsealed a new filing in special counsel Jack Smith’s election interference case against Donald Trump, the case that includes allegations about Jan. 6.
Now, you may be asking yourself, why does this 165-page motion even exist? The prosecutors already put forward a superseding indictment in the case in August. The intention behind this document, which was filed by Smith’s team last week, was to show Judge Chutkan that the immunity ruling from the Supreme Court didn’t sink the government’s case.
The filing contains an incredible level of specificity, arguing that Trump was not carrying out these acts as president of the United States, but was instead taking these actions as somebody who was trying to win a next term as president. It’s full of very clear and quotable lines like, “The Executive Branch has no authority or function to choose the next President.” As the filing contends, the extent to which Trump was trying to effect that choice was as a candidate and an interested party, not as president.
Another important line reads, “As President, the defendant had no official responsibilities related to the states administration of the election or the appointment of their electors.” So when Smith explains how Trump pressured state officials about choosing their electors, the special counsel argues that Trump is doing something for which there is no presidential, official responsibility. That means Trump cannot be immune from prosecution for those actions, according to Smith’s filing.
It’s also important to note this filing was released less than 24 hours after Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, rolled out some of the most shameless, smooth-talking revisionist history about what the former president did on Jan. 6 and what happened at the end of the 2020 election. Usually, that kind of stuff is delivered to a MAGA audience, but on Tuesday night, it was delivered to more than 40 million people by a guy who portrayed it as if it were no big deal.
Smith’s filing shows the American people that Vance’s revisionist history is absolute bunk; it’s nonsense. And should the court move forward on the basis of this filing and say Trump is not immune and that he should be prosecuted, this shows that the criminal case against Trump is very strong and very detailed.
