• News & Politics
  • Culture
  • Food
  • Science & Health
  • Money
  • Life Stories
  • Video
  • Reviews
    • Lifestyle
      • The New Sober Boom
      • Getting Hooked on Quitting
    • Education
      • Liberal Arts Cuts Are Dangerous
      • Is College Necessary?
    • Finance
      • Dying Parents Costing Millennials Dear
      • Gen Z Investing In Le Creuset
    • Crypto
      • Investing
        • SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters
        • 'Dark' Personalities Drawn to BTC
Profile Log In/Sign Up Saved Articles Go Ad-Free Logout
subscribe
Help keep Salon independent
Newsletter
Profile Login/Sign Up
Saved Articles Go Ad-Free Logout
  • News & Politics
  • Culture
  • Food
salon logo
  • Science & Health
  • Money
  • Video

“Sure, Jan”: Legal experts mock Trump’s motion seeking to hold Jack Smith in contempt

Trump claims it's "illegal" for special counsel to submit court filings while the D.C. case is paused

By Igor Derysh

Managing Editor

Published January 4, 2024 11:09AM (EST)

Special Counsel Jack Smith makes a statement from the Special Counsel office in Washington on Thursday, June 9, 2023.  (Tom Brenner for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Special Counsel Jack Smith makes a statement from the Special Counsel office in Washington on Thursday, June 9, 2023. (Tom Brenner for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
--

Shares

Facebook
Twitter
Reddit
Email

Former President Donald Trump on Thursday filed a motion arguing that special counsel Jack Smith should be held in contempt for continuing to submit court filings in the D.C. election subversion case while proceedings are paused. Smith last week asked U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan to bar Trump from introducing “irrelevant disinformation” into the case in a filing Trump claimed was “illegal.”

"The stay order is clear, straightforward, and unambiguous," Trump attorney John Lauro wrote in the filing. "All substantive proceedings in this court are halted. Despite this clarity, the prosecutors began violating the stay almost immediately." The filing asked Chutkan to release an order showing why prosecutors should not be held in contempt or ordered to withdraw their filing and be barred from making future filings.

MSNBC legal analyst Katie Phang noted that Trump also used the filing to “repeat his story that he ‘called only for peaceful and patriotic protest and assembly’” ahead of the Jan. 6 attack. “Sure, Jan,” she wrote. “The proceedings are stayed” anyway, pointed out national security attorney Bradley Moss. “Trump doesn't have to do anything in response to the filings. Doesn't stop DOJ from still producing discovery and filing things. If the case is thrown out by the Supreme Court, the filings will become irrelevant.”


MORE FROM Igor Derysh

Advertisement:
  • Home
  • About
  • Staff
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Service
  • Archive
  • Go Ad Free

Copyright © 2025 Salon.com, LLC. Reproduction of material from any Salon pages without written permission is strictly prohibited. SALON ® is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark of Salon.com, LLC. Associated Press articles: Copyright © 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


DMCA Policy