WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for Donald Trump are raising new challenges to the federal election subversion case against him, telling a judge that the indictment should be dismissed because it violates the former president’s free speech rights and represents a vindictive prosecution.

The motions filed late Monday in the case charging the Republican with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost are on top of a pending argument by defense attorneys that he is immune from federal prosecution for actions taken within his official role as president.

Special counsel Jack Smith’s team urged a judge last week to reject that argument and is expected to do the same for the latest motions. It is routine for defendants to ask a judge to dismiss the charges against them, but such requests are rarely granted. In Trump’s case, though, the challenges to the indictment could at a minimum force a delay in a prosecution that is set for trial in Washington next March.

  • Nougat
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    fedilink
    91 year ago

    Taken together, the motions cut to the heart of some of Trump’s most oft-repeated public defenses: that he is being prosecuted for political reasons by the Biden administration Justice Department …

    He can say that all he wants. That doesn’t make it true.

    … and that he was within his First Amendment rights to challenge the outcome of the election and to allege that it had been tainted by fraud …

    He’s not accused of challenging the outcome of the election or alleging that it had been tainted by fraud. He’s accused of organizing and participating in a scheme to overturn legitimate election results in his favor. The charges have absolutely nothing to do with free speech.