Jack Smith rips Trump's move to 'derail' trial with delays: 'His motion should be denied'
Special counsel Jack Smith urged U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan to deny Donald Trump's motion for further delays in his federal election subversion trial.
In a motion filed on Sunday, attorneys for Trump complained that the prosecution had filed an "oversized, 64-page omnibus response" to a motion to dismiss the case. Trump's replies to the prosecution's filing were due by Nov. 16.
"President Trump seeks the requested extensions so that he may better balance these conflicting obligations while also continuing his trial preparation work, which cannot stop given the enormity of discovery and the potential March 4, 2024, trial date," the filing said.
But on Monday, Smith fired back by observing Trump had hired three additional lawyers and should be able to meet the deadline.
"He mentions that the Government filed 'an oversized, 64-page omnibus response' to his 65 pages' worth of motions to dismiss based on constitutional and statutory grounds, wrongly implying that the Government's single, organized opposition imposes some greater burden on him than the two separate 45-page filings the Government was entitled to file under the Local Rules," Smith's filing pointed out.
"The defendant should not be permitted to derail the pretrial schedule by pointing to the rapid appellate consideration few other defendants enjoy," the filing added. "His motion should be denied."