Former President Donald Trump’s legal team claims special counsel Jack Smith and his team of federal prosecutors are in contempt of court for allegedly pressing ahead with a criminal case that’s been placed on hold.
In a motion posted Thursday by The Messenger, Trump’s lead lawyer John Lauro wrote: “The Stay Order is clear, straightforward, and unambiguous.”
"All substantive proceedings in this court are halted. Despite this clarity, the prosecutors began violating the stay almost immediately,” he charged.
The aggressive stance comes amid a clash over the extent activity in the case was paused while Trump appeals a decision from federal District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan rejecting claims the former president should be immune from prosecution because of his prior role.
In that decision, Chutkan said she intended to prepare the case for a trial on March 4. She also said she "does not understand the required stay of further proceedings to divest it of jurisdiction to enforce the measures it has already imposed to safeguard the integrity of these proceedings," including a limited gag order barring Trump from verbally attacking anticipated witnesses, The Messenger reported.
Trump's legal team alleges Smith and his team defied the stay order and kept providing discovery and filing motions, and were “disobeying the Stay Order at least three times in just two weeks,” the lawyers wrote in the filing.
“The Court should require that the prosecutors seek and obtain permission from the Court before submitting any filings or productions for the duration of the Stay Order to ensure that any further attempts to violate the Stay Order will be summarily denied,” the Trump team wrote.
Trump’s appeal is set to be weighed by the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals in a hearing Tuesday, The Hill reported.
Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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