A motion filed Tuesday by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith in disgraced former President Trump’s post-2020 election coup attempt case reveals that Donald’s lawyers are opposed to having to assert their supposedly planned “advice of counsel” defense exhibits to the court by Smith’s requested deadline of December 18th, 2023. Smith’s team doesn’t get into why they don’t want to do it, simply writing “through counsel, the defendant opposes this motion,” in the opening.
Thing is that it doesn’t appear that Trump’s lawyers have ever actually raised their intent to pursue the defense in any filings or arguments in pretrial hearings so far. It’s all been on TV and those are what Smith uses in the “background” section. Basically he’s saying “Hey you and your lawyer said all this shit in public about how you actually believed all that garbage stupid Rudy Giuliani and the Kraken were telling you about election fraud, so if you plan on bringing it into the courtroom you should tell the judge soon because we’re on a tight schedule here.” To which Trump’s lawyers are probably thinking “Uhhh shit… The fat idiot already imploded our case during his interview with freaking Kristen Welker. Are we still going with it? Goddamn it. Tell Smith we think we’re opposed to having to share the exhibits! For now! We’ll get back to him with something soon. Probably.”
Probably another sore spot is that if Trump does indeed go with it there are at least 25 witnesses who have claimed attorney-client privilege for their communications – including a Trump family member – all of which would be waived and subject to being entered into evidence.