The majority of records remain under seal, while many unsealed materials have already been disseminated in some form.
On Friday, the judge in former President Trump’s federal election interference lawsuit released additional documents from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s probe into the former president, just weeks before the 2024 election.
On Thursday night, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued an order making additional records available to the public. The hundreds of pages of records serve as Smith’s exhibit appendix in the ongoing debate over whether Trump has presidential immunity that undermines the allegations against him.
“Radical Democrats are hell-bent on interfering in the presidential election on behalf of Lyin’ Kamala Harris,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital. “With just over two weeks until Election Day, President Trump is dominating this race and Crazed Liberals throughout the Deep State are freaking out.”
Cheung added, “As mandated by the Supreme Court’s historic decision on Presidential Immunity and other vital jurisprudence, this entire case is a sham and a partisan, Unconstitutional Witch Hunt that should be dismissed entirely — as should ALL of the remaining Democrat hoaxes.”
The majority of pages released to the public remain under seal and are not viewable by the public. Much of the unsealed material has been previously released in some form, including transcripts by the House Select Committee on Jan. 6. Other documents include old Trump campaign press releases, fundraising emails, White House press conference transcripts and news articles.
In the order to release the documents, Chutkan cited Trump’s claim that the “asymmetric release of charged allegations and related documents during early voting creates a concerning appearance of election interference.”
According to the judge, while there is a public interest for courts to avoid involving themselves in elections, “it is in fact Defendant’s requested relief that risks undermining that public interest.”
“If the court withheld information that the public otherwise had a right to access solely because of the potential political consequences of releasing it, that withholding could itself constitute — or appear to be — election interference,” she argued.
She also stated that the court would continue to keep political concerns out of rulings, despite the defense’s plea.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges filed by Smith.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court determined that presidents are exempt from punishment for official activities.
Smith was then compelled to file a new indictment against Trump, modifying the accusations in an attempt to traverse the Supreme Court decision. The new indictment retained the previous criminal accusations but limited and reframed the claims against Trump following the Supreme Court’s decision to grant past presidents extensive immunity.
Trump also pled not guilty to all of the accusations in the new indictment.
In a filing unsealed earlier this month, Smith outlines a “factual proffer,” alleging Trump “resorted to crimes to try to stay in office” after losing the 2020 presidential election.
“With private co-conspirators, the defendant launched a series of increasingly desperate plans to overturn the legitimate election results in seven states that he had lost — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin,” Smith wrote.
In a filing unsealed earlier this month, Smith outlines a “factual proffer,” alleging Trump “resorted to crimes to try to stay in office” after losing the 2020 presidential election.
“With private co-conspirators, the defendant launched a series of increasingly desperate plans to overturn the legitimate election results in seven states that he had lost — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin,” Smith wrote.
