The Justice Department Monday criticized former President Trump for “attempts to sanitize his conduct” leading up to the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, urging a judge to reject several motions to dismiss the case and disentangle Trump from the storming of the building.
The four filings, together more than 100 pages, respond to a series of pretrial motions filed by the Trump team last month asking the judge to toss the former president’s 2020 election case on a number of grounds, ranging from arguments the charges step on his First Amendment rights and that his speech simply amounted to raising concerns about the election to claims he is facing a “vindictive prosecution.”
Prosecutors forcefully defended their indictment while accusing Trump of “perpetrating an unprecedented campaign of deceit.”
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The four filings, together more than 100 pages, respond to a series of pretrial motions filed by the Trump team last month asking the judge to toss the former president’s 2020 election case on a number of grounds, ranging from arguments the charges step on his First Amendment rights and that his speech simply amounted to raising concerns about the election to claims he is facing a “vindictive prosecution.”
No other president has engaged in conspiracy and obstruction to overturn valid election results and illegitimately retain power,” prosecutors on special counsel Jack Smith’s team wrote.
The brief fires back at claims that echo many of Trump’s social media attacks criticizing the unfairness of the indictment against him and accusing prosecutors of launching their case based on animus.
In another brief, prosecutors fight an attempt by Trump’s legal team to strike from the indictment allegations related to Jan. 6 because he has not faced charges directly connected to the riot itself.
Prosecutors spent ample time discussing Trump’s role in forwarding false claims about the election being stolen, something they noted came even after a series of trusted advisers told him otherwise and were knowingly used in a plot to block the transfer of power.
“The indictment alleges not ‘lobbying’ but instead a concerted effort to target knowingly false and fraudulent claims at government officials, and then seeking to exploit actions by a violent and chaotic mob, in order to defeat the certification proceeding,” prosecutors wrote.
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