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Special Counsel Jack Smith announces indictment of former President Donald Trump during a press conference on August 1, 2023 in Washington, D.C.
"Defendants don't get to say whatever they want to in front of a jury," explained on legal expert. "Expect more motions like this from Smith."
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's federal election interference case may not ever go to trial, but that didn't stop Special Counsel Jack Smith from filing a formal request on Wednesday asking District Judge Tanya Chutkan to impose certain limitations if it does.
While the trial is scheduled for March, it could be delayed or blocked due to an ongoing legal battle over Trump's claim that he is immune from charges related to his involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, including the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, because he was president at the time.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected Smith's request that the justices skip over an appeals court and weigh in immediately. The appellate court is set to hear that case on January 9, after which it is expected to end up before the Supreme Court again. Smith's new motion could help establish some ground rules if the trial ever happens.
"Through public statements, filings, and argument in hearings before the court, the defense has attempted to inject into this case partisan political attacks and irrelevant and prejudicial issues that have no place in a jury trial," the motion begins. "Although the court can recognize these efforts for what they are and disregard them, the jury—if subjected to them—may not."
"The court should not permit the defendant to turn the courtroom into a forum in which he propagates irrelevant disinformation, and should reject his attempt to inject politics into this proceeding," the 20-page filing continues. "To ensure that the jury remains focused on its fact-finding duty and applies the law as instructed by the court, the defendant's improper evidence and argument should be excluded."
Despite Trump's several criminal cases and arguments that inciting an insurrection disqualifies him from holding office again, he is the leading GOP candidate for 2024. Democratic President Joe Biden, who beat him in 2020, is seeking reelection.
After Trump formally launched his current campaign last year, Biden-appointed U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Smith as special counsel to take over ongoing Department of Justice (DOJ) probes into the twice-impeached former president. Trump was indicted in a federal classified documents case overseen by Smith in June and in the election case in August.
Since then, Trump "has made a baseless claim of selective and vindictive prosecution... and repeatedly has levied the false accusation that the indictment—returned by a grand jury of citizens of this district on a finding of probable cause—was directed by the current president as a form of election interference," Smith wrote Wednesday. "In addition to being wrong, these allegations are irrelevant to the jury's determination of the defendant's guilt or innocence, would be prejudicial if presented to the jury, and must be excluded."
Trump has also "signaled his intention to blame the events of January 6 on the Capitol Police, National Guard, and the district's mayor," the special counsel added, noting that courts have "overwhelmingly rejected" attempts by other insurrection defendants to blame law enforcement.
"A bank robber cannot defend himself by blaming the bank's security guard for failing to stop him," Smith argued. "A fraud defendant cannot claim to the jury that his victims should have known better than to fall for his scheme. And the defendant cannot argue that law enforcement should have prevented the violence he caused and obstruction he intended."
Responding to the motion in a series of posts on social media, Los Angeles Times senior legal affairs columnist Harry Litman posited that the filing "has to make Trump apoplectic."
Addressing the motion on his social media platform, Trump said:
Crooked Joe Biden's errand boy, Deranged Jack Smith, is obsessed with attacking your favorite President, me, and with interfering in the 2024 Presidential Election, which I am Dominating. Deranged Jack is so Viciously and Desperately Angry that the Supreme Court just unanimously rejected his flailing attempt to rush this Witch Hunt, that he is ignoring the Law and clear instructions from the D.C. Court that this "case" should be stayed, and there cannot be any more filings. Today’s pathetic motion is not just Illegal, it is also another Unconstitutional attempt to take away my First Amendment Rights, and to prevent me from saying the TRUTH—that all of these Hoaxes are nothing but a political persecution of me, the MAGA Movement, and the Republican Party by Crooked Joe and his Despicable Thugs. The Radical Left Communists, Marxists, and Fascists are petrified of me speaking the TRUTH because the American People don't want them destroying our Country. Make America Great Again!
Litman said that Trump and Smith "know that the filing will be devoured by press and public and put the DOJ's unanswered argument into public play... Trump won't answer on the merits—he's relying on the stay. But he could file a motion before Chutkan asking her to order DOJ not to keep filing."
"Yet that raises the question what exactly is wrong with it. She'll assure the parties that she's not looking at the papers, but there's not a prohibition on parties' filing motions early. So she could respond to the motion by saying DOJ can do what it wants; I just won't read," he explained. "It's actually a bit of a provocation on Smith's part."
The expert stressed that "on the merits, the motion is perfectly orthodox and proper: says don't let Trump try to sneak in evidence that it's a politically motivated prosecution by Biden no less, which would be 1. false; 2. irrelevant; and 3. unduly prejudicial in that it's not a basis for acquittal."
"And that has the collateral effect of emphasizing to the public that Trump's whole campaign is not just legally but logically, fairly, justly completely separate from his guilt for the serious charges growing out of his attempt to reverse the election," he added.
Former federal prosecutor David Aaron similarly told The Washington Post that "it's is not unusual at all for a prosecutor to try to protect their case by trimming off these potentially irrelevant, or confusing, or misleading areas in advance of trial."
"If Jack Smith prevails in these motions," he added, "it's just another step in a normal criminal proceeding."
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Former U.S. President Donald Trump's federal election interference case may not ever go to trial, but that didn't stop Special Counsel Jack Smith from filing a formal request on Wednesday asking District Judge Tanya Chutkan to impose certain limitations if it does.
While the trial is scheduled for March, it could be delayed or blocked due to an ongoing legal battle over Trump's claim that he is immune from charges related to his involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, including the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, because he was president at the time.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected Smith's request that the justices skip over an appeals court and weigh in immediately. The appellate court is set to hear that case on January 9, after which it is expected to end up before the Supreme Court again. Smith's new motion could help establish some ground rules if the trial ever happens.
"Through public statements, filings, and argument in hearings before the court, the defense has attempted to inject into this case partisan political attacks and irrelevant and prejudicial issues that have no place in a jury trial," the motion begins. "Although the court can recognize these efforts for what they are and disregard them, the jury—if subjected to them—may not."
"The court should not permit the defendant to turn the courtroom into a forum in which he propagates irrelevant disinformation, and should reject his attempt to inject politics into this proceeding," the 20-page filing continues. "To ensure that the jury remains focused on its fact-finding duty and applies the law as instructed by the court, the defendant's improper evidence and argument should be excluded."
Despite Trump's several criminal cases and arguments that inciting an insurrection disqualifies him from holding office again, he is the leading GOP candidate for 2024. Democratic President Joe Biden, who beat him in 2020, is seeking reelection.
After Trump formally launched his current campaign last year, Biden-appointed U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Smith as special counsel to take over ongoing Department of Justice (DOJ) probes into the twice-impeached former president. Trump was indicted in a federal classified documents case overseen by Smith in June and in the election case in August.
Since then, Trump "has made a baseless claim of selective and vindictive prosecution... and repeatedly has levied the false accusation that the indictment—returned by a grand jury of citizens of this district on a finding of probable cause—was directed by the current president as a form of election interference," Smith wrote Wednesday. "In addition to being wrong, these allegations are irrelevant to the jury's determination of the defendant's guilt or innocence, would be prejudicial if presented to the jury, and must be excluded."
Trump has also "signaled his intention to blame the events of January 6 on the Capitol Police, National Guard, and the district's mayor," the special counsel added, noting that courts have "overwhelmingly rejected" attempts by other insurrection defendants to blame law enforcement.
"A bank robber cannot defend himself by blaming the bank's security guard for failing to stop him," Smith argued. "A fraud defendant cannot claim to the jury that his victims should have known better than to fall for his scheme. And the defendant cannot argue that law enforcement should have prevented the violence he caused and obstruction he intended."
Responding to the motion in a series of posts on social media, Los Angeles Times senior legal affairs columnist Harry Litman posited that the filing "has to make Trump apoplectic."
Addressing the motion on his social media platform, Trump said:
Crooked Joe Biden's errand boy, Deranged Jack Smith, is obsessed with attacking your favorite President, me, and with interfering in the 2024 Presidential Election, which I am Dominating. Deranged Jack is so Viciously and Desperately Angry that the Supreme Court just unanimously rejected his flailing attempt to rush this Witch Hunt, that he is ignoring the Law and clear instructions from the D.C. Court that this "case" should be stayed, and there cannot be any more filings. Today’s pathetic motion is not just Illegal, it is also another Unconstitutional attempt to take away my First Amendment Rights, and to prevent me from saying the TRUTH—that all of these Hoaxes are nothing but a political persecution of me, the MAGA Movement, and the Republican Party by Crooked Joe and his Despicable Thugs. The Radical Left Communists, Marxists, and Fascists are petrified of me speaking the TRUTH because the American People don't want them destroying our Country. Make America Great Again!
Litman said that Trump and Smith "know that the filing will be devoured by press and public and put the DOJ's unanswered argument into public play... Trump won't answer on the merits—he's relying on the stay. But he could file a motion before Chutkan asking her to order DOJ not to keep filing."
"Yet that raises the question what exactly is wrong with it. She'll assure the parties that she's not looking at the papers, but there's not a prohibition on parties' filing motions early. So she could respond to the motion by saying DOJ can do what it wants; I just won't read," he explained. "It's actually a bit of a provocation on Smith's part."
The expert stressed that "on the merits, the motion is perfectly orthodox and proper: says don't let Trump try to sneak in evidence that it's a politically motivated prosecution by Biden no less, which would be 1. false; 2. irrelevant; and 3. unduly prejudicial in that it's not a basis for acquittal."
"And that has the collateral effect of emphasizing to the public that Trump's whole campaign is not just legally but logically, fairly, justly completely separate from his guilt for the serious charges growing out of his attempt to reverse the election," he added.
Former federal prosecutor David Aaron similarly told The Washington Post that "it's is not unusual at all for a prosecutor to try to protect their case by trimming off these potentially irrelevant, or confusing, or misleading areas in advance of trial."
"If Jack Smith prevails in these motions," he added, "it's just another step in a normal criminal proceeding."
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's federal election interference case may not ever go to trial, but that didn't stop Special Counsel Jack Smith from filing a formal request on Wednesday asking District Judge Tanya Chutkan to impose certain limitations if it does.
While the trial is scheduled for March, it could be delayed or blocked due to an ongoing legal battle over Trump's claim that he is immune from charges related to his involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, including the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, because he was president at the time.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected Smith's request that the justices skip over an appeals court and weigh in immediately. The appellate court is set to hear that case on January 9, after which it is expected to end up before the Supreme Court again. Smith's new motion could help establish some ground rules if the trial ever happens.
"Through public statements, filings, and argument in hearings before the court, the defense has attempted to inject into this case partisan political attacks and irrelevant and prejudicial issues that have no place in a jury trial," the motion begins. "Although the court can recognize these efforts for what they are and disregard them, the jury—if subjected to them—may not."
"The court should not permit the defendant to turn the courtroom into a forum in which he propagates irrelevant disinformation, and should reject his attempt to inject politics into this proceeding," the 20-page filing continues. "To ensure that the jury remains focused on its fact-finding duty and applies the law as instructed by the court, the defendant's improper evidence and argument should be excluded."
Despite Trump's several criminal cases and arguments that inciting an insurrection disqualifies him from holding office again, he is the leading GOP candidate for 2024. Democratic President Joe Biden, who beat him in 2020, is seeking reelection.
After Trump formally launched his current campaign last year, Biden-appointed U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Smith as special counsel to take over ongoing Department of Justice (DOJ) probes into the twice-impeached former president. Trump was indicted in a federal classified documents case overseen by Smith in June and in the election case in August.
Since then, Trump "has made a baseless claim of selective and vindictive prosecution... and repeatedly has levied the false accusation that the indictment—returned by a grand jury of citizens of this district on a finding of probable cause—was directed by the current president as a form of election interference," Smith wrote Wednesday. "In addition to being wrong, these allegations are irrelevant to the jury's determination of the defendant's guilt or innocence, would be prejudicial if presented to the jury, and must be excluded."
Trump has also "signaled his intention to blame the events of January 6 on the Capitol Police, National Guard, and the district's mayor," the special counsel added, noting that courts have "overwhelmingly rejected" attempts by other insurrection defendants to blame law enforcement.
"A bank robber cannot defend himself by blaming the bank's security guard for failing to stop him," Smith argued. "A fraud defendant cannot claim to the jury that his victims should have known better than to fall for his scheme. And the defendant cannot argue that law enforcement should have prevented the violence he caused and obstruction he intended."
Responding to the motion in a series of posts on social media, Los Angeles Times senior legal affairs columnist Harry Litman posited that the filing "has to make Trump apoplectic."
Addressing the motion on his social media platform, Trump said:
Crooked Joe Biden's errand boy, Deranged Jack Smith, is obsessed with attacking your favorite President, me, and with interfering in the 2024 Presidential Election, which I am Dominating. Deranged Jack is so Viciously and Desperately Angry that the Supreme Court just unanimously rejected his flailing attempt to rush this Witch Hunt, that he is ignoring the Law and clear instructions from the D.C. Court that this "case" should be stayed, and there cannot be any more filings. Today’s pathetic motion is not just Illegal, it is also another Unconstitutional attempt to take away my First Amendment Rights, and to prevent me from saying the TRUTH—that all of these Hoaxes are nothing but a political persecution of me, the MAGA Movement, and the Republican Party by Crooked Joe and his Despicable Thugs. The Radical Left Communists, Marxists, and Fascists are petrified of me speaking the TRUTH because the American People don't want them destroying our Country. Make America Great Again!
Litman said that Trump and Smith "know that the filing will be devoured by press and public and put the DOJ's unanswered argument into public play... Trump won't answer on the merits—he's relying on the stay. But he could file a motion before Chutkan asking her to order DOJ not to keep filing."
"Yet that raises the question what exactly is wrong with it. She'll assure the parties that she's not looking at the papers, but there's not a prohibition on parties' filing motions early. So she could respond to the motion by saying DOJ can do what it wants; I just won't read," he explained. "It's actually a bit of a provocation on Smith's part."
The expert stressed that "on the merits, the motion is perfectly orthodox and proper: says don't let Trump try to sneak in evidence that it's a politically motivated prosecution by Biden no less, which would be 1. false; 2. irrelevant; and 3. unduly prejudicial in that it's not a basis for acquittal."
"And that has the collateral effect of emphasizing to the public that Trump's whole campaign is not just legally but logically, fairly, justly completely separate from his guilt for the serious charges growing out of his attempt to reverse the election," he added.
Former federal prosecutor David Aaron similarly told The Washington Post that "it's is not unusual at all for a prosecutor to try to protect their case by trimming off these potentially irrelevant, or confusing, or misleading areas in advance of trial."
"If Jack Smith prevails in these motions," he added, "it's just another step in a normal criminal proceeding."
"We've got the FBI patrolling the streets." said one protester. "We've got National Guard set up as a show of force. What's scarier is if we allow this."
Residents of Washington, DC over the weekend demonstrated against US President Donald Trump's deployment of the National Guard in their city.
As reported by NBC Washington, demonstrators gathered on Saturday at DuPont Circle and then marched to the White House to direct their anger at Trump for sending the National Guard to Washington DC, and for his efforts to take over the Metropolitan Police Department.
In an interview with NBC Washington, one protester said that it was important for the administration to see that residents weren't intimidated by the presence of military personnel roaming their streets.
"I know a lot of people are scared," the protester said. "We've got the FBI patrolling the streets. We've got National Guard set up as a show of force. What's scarier is if we allow this."
Saturday protests against the presence of the National Guard are expected to be a weekly occurrence, organizers told NBC Washington.
Hours after the march to the White House, other demonstrators began to gather at Union Station to protest the presence of the National Guard units there. Audio obtained by freelance journalist Andrew Leyden reveals that the National Guard decided to move their forces out of the area in reaction to what dispatchers called "growing demonstrations."
Even residents who didn't take part in formal demonstrations over the weekend managed to express their displeasure with the National Guard patrolling the city. According to The Washington Post, locals who spent a night on the town in the U Street neighborhood on Friday night made their unhappiness with law enforcement in the city very well known.
"At the sight of local and federal law enforcement throughout the night, people pooled on the sidewalk—watching, filming, booing," wrote the Post. "Such interactions played out again and again as the night drew on. Onlookers heckled the police as they did their job and applauded as officers left."
Trump last week ordered the National Guard into Washington, DC and tried to take control the Metropolitan Police, purportedly in order to reduce crime in the city. Statistics released earlier this year, however, showed a significant drop in crime in the nation's capital.
"Why not impose more sanctions on [Russia] and force them to agree to a cease-fire, instead of accepting that Putin won't agree to one?" asked NBC's Kristen Welker.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday was repeatedly put on the spot over the failure of US President Donald Trump to secure a cease-fire deal between Russia and Ukraine.
Rubio appeared on news programs across all major networks on Sunday morning and he was asked on all of them about Trump's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin ending without any kind of agreement to end the conflict with Ukraine, which has now lasted for more than three years.
During an interview on ABC's "This Week," Rubio was grilled by Martha Raddatz about the purported "progress" being made toward bringing the war to a close. She also zeroed in on Trump's own statements saying that he wanted to see Russia agree to a cease-fire by the end of last week's summit.
"The president went in to that meeting saying he wanted a ceasefire, and there would be consequences if they didn't agree on a ceasefire in that meeting, and they didn't agree to a ceasefire," she said. "So where are the consequences?"
"That's not the aim of this," Rubio replied. "First of all..."
"The president said that was the aim!" Raddatz interjected.
"Yeah, but you're not going to reach a cease-fire or a peace agreement in a meeting in which only one side is represented," Rubio replied. "That's why it's important to bring both leaders together, that's the goal here."
RADDATZ: The president went in to that meeting saying he wanted a ceasefire and there would be consequences if they didn't agree on a ceasefire in that meeting, and they didn't agree to a ceasefire. So where are the consequences?
RUBIO: That's not the aim
RADDATZ: The president… pic.twitter.com/fuO9q1Y5ze
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 17, 2025
Rubio also made an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation," where host Margaret Brennan similarly pressed him about the expectations Trump had set going into the summit.
"The president told those European leaders last week he wanted a ceasefire," she pointed out. "He went on television and said he would walk out of the meeting if Putin didn't agree to one, he said there would be severe consequences if he didn't agree to one. He said he'd walk out in two minutes—he spent three hours talking to Vladimir Putin and he did not get one. So there's mixed messages here."
"Our goal is not to stage some production for the world to say, 'Oh, how dramatic, he walked out,'" Rubio shot back. "Our goal is to have a peace agreement to end this war, OK? And obviously we felt, and I agreed, that there was enough progress, not a lot of progress, but enough progress made in those talks to allow us to move to the next phase."
Rubio then insisted that now was not the time to hit Russia with new sanctions, despite Trump's recent threats to do so, because it would end talks all together.
Brennan: The president told those European leaders last week he wanted a ceasefire. He went on television and said he would walk out of the meeting if Putin didn't agree to one, he said there would be severe consequences if he didn’t agree to one. He spent three hours talking to… pic.twitter.com/2WtuDH5Oii
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 17, 2025
During an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," host Kristen Welker asked Rubio about the "severe consequences" Trump had promised for Russia if it did not agree to a cease-fire.
"Why not impose more sanctions on [Russia] and force them to agree to a cease-fire, instead of accepting that Putin won't agree to one?" Welker asked.
"Well, first, that's something that I think a lot of people go around saying that I don't necessarily think is true," he replied. "I don't think new sanctions on Russia are going to force them to accept a cease-fire. They are already under severe sanctions... you can argue that could be a consequence of refusing to agree to a cease-fire or the end of hostilities."
He went on to say that he hoped the US would not be forced to put more sanctions on Russia "because that means peace talks failed."
WELKER: Why not impose more sanctions on Russia and force them to agree to a ceasefire, instead of accepting that Putin won't agree to one?
RUBIO: Well, I think that's something people go around saying that I don't necessarily think is true. I don't think new sanctions on Russia… pic.twitter.com/GoIucsrDmA
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 17, 2025
During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump said that he could end the war between Russian and Ukraine within the span of a single day. In the seven months since his inauguration, the war has only gotten more intense as Russia has stepped up its daily attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
"I had to protect my life and my family... my truck was shot three times," said the vehicle's driver.
A family in San Bernardino, California is in shock after masked federal agents opened fire on their truck.
As NBC Los Angeles reported, Customs and Border Protection (CPB) agents on Saturday morning surrounded the family's truck and demanded that its passengers exit the vehicle.
A video of the incident filmed from inside the truck showed the passengers asked the agents to provide identification, which they declined to do.
An agent was then heard demanding that the father, who had been driving the truck, get out of the vehicle. Seconds later, the agent started smashing the car's windows in an attempt to get inside the vehicle.
The father then hit the gas to try to escape, after which several shots could be heard as agents opened fire. Local news station KTLA reported that, after the father successfully fled the scene, he called local police and asked for help because "masked men" had opened fire on his truck.
Looks like, for the first time I'm aware of, masked agents opened fire today, in San Bernardino. Sources posted below: pic.twitter.com/eE1GMglECg
— Eric Levai (@ericlevai) August 17, 2025
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) defended the agents' actions in a statement to NBC Los Angeles.
"In the course of the incident the suspect drove his car at the officers and struck two CBP officers with his vehicle," they said. "Because of the subjects forcing a CBP officer to discharge his firearm in self-defense."
But the father, who only wished to be identified as "Francisco," pointed out that the agents refused to identify themselves and presented no warrants to justify the search of his truck.
"I had to protect my life and my family," he explained to NBC Los Angeles. "My truck was shot three times."
His son-in-law, who only wished to be identified as "Martin," was similarly critical of the agents' actions.
"Its just upsetting that it happened to us," he said. "I am glad my brother is okay, Pop is okay, but it's just not cool that [immigration enforcement officials are] able to do something like that."
According to KTLA, federal agents surrounded the family's house later that afternoon and demanded that the father come out so that he could be arrested. He refused, and agents eventually departed from the neighborhood without detaining him.
Local advocacy group Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice said on its Instagram page that it was "mobilizing to provide legal support" for the family.