Trump lawyers compare DOJ request to file lengthy Jan. 6 legal brief to special counsel report

Former President Donald Trump's legal team on Monday said the federal prosecutors’ request to file an extensive legal brief on why Trump's actions regarding the 2020 election shouldn't be exempt from criminal prosecution would be equivalent to releasing a special counsel report shortly before the 2024 election.

Prosecutors had requested U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan on Saturday to file the 180-page legal brief. According to the Washington Post, prosecutors argued that Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity in July require her to decide which allegations and evidence against Trump to allow in the case.

“The Court has been directed to conduct a detailed, factbound, and thorough analysis of the Government’s case to make appropriate immunity determinations,” wrote prosecutors Thomas P. Windom and Molly Gaston. “The Government believes that a comprehensive brief by the Government will be of great assistance to the Court in creating that robust record.”

Trump lawyers John Lauro and Todd Blanche argued that the prosecuters' 180-page brief “would be tantamount to a premature and improper Special Counsel report," calling it a "politically motivated" move.

“The Special Counsel’s Office is seeking to release voluminous conclusions to the public, without allowing President Trump to confront their witnesses and present his own, to ensure the document’s public release prior to the 2024 Presidential election,” wrote Blanche and Lauro.