Special counsel Jack Smith asked a judge on Wednesday to bar former President Donald Trump's lawyers from injecting politics into his trial on charges that he schemed to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Smith's office told U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in a 20-page filing that Trump's lawyers should be prevented from 'raising irrelevant political issues or arguments in front of the jury,' including that the prosecution against him is vindictive and selective or was coordinated by President Joe Biden.
'In addition to being wrong, these allegations are irrelevant to the jury's determination of the defendant's guilt or innocence, would be prejudicial if presented to the jury, and must be excluded,' prosecutors wrote.
The motion to preclude Trump from introducing broad categories of arguments is a way for prosecutors to try to set parameters on what information they believe the jury should, or should not, hear when the case reaches trial.
It was filed as the case is effectively on hold during an appeal of the former president's claims that he is immune from prosecution for acts taken while in the White House.
