Special counsel Jack Smith may be headed down a “dangerous path” as prosecutors prepare to file court documents this month that may reveal additional details of the federal election subversion charges against former President Donald Trump, according to one analyst.
Trump’s case took a major leap on Thursday after U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan sided with Smith’s requested timeline for pretrial hearings following the Justice Department’s revised indictment filed against Trump last week.
As part of the schedule, Smith was ordered to hand over evidence in the case to Trump’s defense team by September 10—the same day as the former president’s first debate against Vice President Kamala Harris. Smith was also given until September 26 to file a legal brief that could include new details about allegations Trump faces in efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. That filing would come less than six weeks before voters head to the polls on Election Day, as Trump seeks a second term in office.
Some experts, including CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig, have anticipated that the opening brief could include additional information about Trump pressuring then-Vice President Mike Pence to refuse to certify the electoral votes on January 6, 2021, including Pence’s closed-door testimony before a grand jury in the spring.
Special counsel Jack Smith is pictured on August 1, 2023, in Washington, D.C. A legal analyst on Thursday warned that Smith and Judge Tanya Chutkan may be heading down a “dangerous path.” (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Honig told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Thursday night that Smith and Chutkan “are going down a very dangerous path,” adding, “It is clear that prosecutors think they can still introduce evidence of what Donald Trump said to pressure Mike Pence, and the judge clearly is with them on that.”
Honig noted, however, that in the Supreme Court‘s ruling in July on presidential immunity, the justices said that Trump’s conversations with Pence were “presumptively immune, meaning the Supreme Court has already said, ‘we are leaning strongly against letting you put in evidence of what Mike Pence said.'”
“So if Judge Chutkan ultimately sides with prosecutors, and says, ‘Go ahead you can introduce the Mike Pence evidence at trial,’ there’s a very good chance that the Supreme Court reverses that,” Honig said.
When reached by Newsweek, a spokesperson for Smith’s team declined to comment on Honig’s statements.
Smith’s revised indictment reflected the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling, including the removal of accusations that Trump attempted to use the Justice Department’s powers to undo his loss to President Joe Biden. Trump’s team has argued, however, that the indictment was not tailored down enough, and that prosecutors should not be allowed to use allegations surrounding Trump’s conversations with Pence.
“We may be dealing with an illegitimate indictment from the get-go,” Trump lawyer John Lauro told Chutkan during Thursday’s hearing.
Lauro also pressed back on the pretrial schedule, given Trump’s reelection bid, arguing to the judge that the “process is inherently unfair, particularly during this sensitive time that we’re in.”
“This court is not concerned with the electoral schedule,” Chutkan shot back at Lauro, according to a report from the Associated Press.
The judge also resisted on accusations from Lauro that prosecutors were pushing for a “rush to judgment” in the case.
“We all know—we all know—that whatever my ruling on immunity is, it’s going to be appealed. And the taking of that appeal will again stay this case,” Chutkan responded. “So, no one here is under any illusion that we’re sprinting towards any particular trial date.”
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all four felony charges in the indictment, which include conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstruction of an official proceeding to certify the 2020 election results, and conspiracy against the rights of American voters to have their votes counted.
Newsweek has reached out to Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, for comment via email on Thursday.
