Trump files new challenges to federal election obstruction case in D.C. [View all]
Source: Washington Post
October 24, 2023 at 1:51 a.m. EDT
Former president Donald Trump launched a multipronged legal attack late Monday on his federal prosecution for allegedly subverting the results of the 2020 election, saying his actions were protected by the First Amendment as political speech and arguing that he cannot be tried in criminal court for trying to block Joe Biden’s victory after being impeached by the House but acquitted by the Senate.
In court filings that landed moments before a midnight deadline, lawyers for Trump claimed he was a victim of political persecution by the Biden administration. They called the charges against Trump legally defective and vague, and said the indictment should not link him to the violence of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, because he is not charged with inciting that riot.
“Because the Government has not charged President Trump with responsibility for the actions at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, allegations related to these actions are not relevant and are prejudicial and inflammatory. Therefore, the Court should strike these allegations from the Indictment,” wrote defense attorneys Todd Blanche, John Lauro, Emil Bove and Gregory Singer.
“The indictment must be dismissed because it seeks to criminalize core political speech and advocacy that lies at the heart of the First Amendment,” they wrote. While aspects of the former president’s case raise historic and unprecedented legal questions, the motions filed late Monday are fairly typical for criminal defendants trying to challenge the legal sufficiency of the charges against them.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/10/24/donald-trump-motion-dismiss-double-jeopardy/
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