Special counsel Jack Smith asked a judge on Wednesday to prohibit former President Donald Trump from introducing “irrelevant” evidence into the election subversion case in Washington, D.C., including any evidence attempting to allege that government informants spurred the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
“Information on this topic is irrelevant to any charge or valid defense, and allowing it would only confuse the jury and waste time on a collateral issue,” Smith wrote in a filing on Wednesday.
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Smith warned that Trump “appears poised to blame undercover agents, government informants, or confidential human sources” for the riot, pointing to a report Trump shared on social media about a Metropolitan Police Department officer appearing to suggest to fellow officers that he “go undercover as Antifa” in the crowd of rioters.
Trump cannot prove that actions by any undercover law enforcement officials affected his mental state on Jan. 6, Smith argued.
The special counsel noted that riot defendants had attempted to use the same claims about informants in past court cases to skirt blame for their own actions on Jan. 6 and that the court had repeatedly rejected those attempts.
Smith has charged Trump with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy against rights, and obstructing an official proceeding. The special counsel has tied the lattermost charge directly to the riot, saying Trump temporarily obstructed Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election by causing a mob to breach the Capitol.
Smith’s request to exclude arguments about informants and undercover agents on Wednesday came as part of a broader court filing in which the special counsel asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to exclude evidence in the forthcoming trial that would allow Trump to “inject politics” into it.
In addition to remarks about undercover officers, Smith also asked Chutkan to exclude Trump’s “baseless” arguments that the prosecution against him is selective and vindictive, saying that argument would have no bearing on whether Trump is guilty or innocent of the charges Smith has brought against him.
He also asked Chutkan to exclude evidence related to claims that foreign actors allegedly influenced the 2020 election, claiming that would serve only as a “confusing sideshow” during the trial.
Trump should only be permitted to use that evidence if it is “concrete” and shows Trump “relied in good faith on … specific foreign disinformation” when he made claims about the 2020 election, Smith argued.
While seeking exclusions to evidence during a trial is standard practice for prosecutors, Smith’s request came while the trial schedule is on pause because of appeals.
That Smith is sticking to deadlines despite Chutkan halting the case signals the special counsel is aggressively aiming to keep the trial as close to the original schedule as possible if and when it resumes.
The trial was initially scheduled to begin March 4, but because an appeals court is currently considering Trump’s motions to dismiss the case, Chutkan has put all deadlines on hold until the appellate court weighs in.
Trump, the leading 2024 presidential contender, is facing four criminal cases and has been seeking deadline extensions, pursuing appeals, and pushing for trials to take place after the election in each case.
The trial in Washington is likely not to stay on schedule at this stage, but Smith has made clear he is aiming for court activity to resume as quickly as possible so long as Trump’s appeals to dismiss the case are unsuccessful.
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Trump, for his part, responded to Smith’s requests by accusing him in a statement on Wednesday of disregarding Chutkan’s rules in the case, though Chutkan did not prohibit parties from voluntarily filing motions while her deadlines are paused.
“He is ignoring the law and clear instructions from District Court Judge Chutkan, who unequivocally stated that this ‘case’ is stayed and there should be no litigation. Period,” Trump said.
