Donald Trump’s legal team told a federal judge on Thursday that special counsel Jack Smith and prosecutors in his office should be severely sanctioned and possibly held in contempt after they continued to submit filings in the case following a stay order from the judge.
Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the Washington, DC, election subversion case, issued a stay on the case after Trump appealed her ruling dismissing his claims that presidential immunity protects him from prosecution.
“The Stay Order is clear, straightforward, and unambiguous. All substantive proceedings in this Court are halted,” Trump’s attorneys wrote. “Despite this clarity, the prosecutors began violating the Stay almost immediately.”
Trump’s attorneys have asked Chutkan to issue an order for Smith and the prosecutors to show why they should not be held in contempt, be forced to withdraw their filings and be “forbidden” from submitting further filings. They also want Smith and his office to show why they shouldn’t face “monetary sanctions” to cover some of Trump’s attorney fees.
“The Court cannot allow the prosecutors to continue to operate lawlessly, in defiance of well-established protocol and this Court’s authority. The Requested Sanctions are appropriate and likely to deter any further transgressions, and if not, the Court retains the ability to impose more severe sanctions, including dismissal of this action,” his attorneys wrote.
Smith’s office declined to comment on the filing from Trump’s legal team.
Trump faces four counts in the case, including conspiring to defraud the United States and to obstruct an official proceeding. The former president has pleaded not guilty.
His attorneys further said in the filing that Smith’s team used the stay to “spread political propaganda.”
“Such malignant conduct undermines the integrity of this proceeding and warrants severe sanction,” Trump’s attorneys wrote.
This story has been updated with additional information.