On Friday, Donald Trump got another October surprise when Judge Tanya Chutkan unsealed nearly 2,000 pages of new evidence from DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith's 165-page January 6th brief.
Judge Chutkan has steadfastly refused pleas from Trump's lawyers to keep Smith's cache of evidence sealed until after the November 5th election, claiming it could damage his presidential campaign. The judge made it abundantly clear she had no interest in the election because she was focused on the four federal charges laid out in Smith's filing.
Trump's lawyers failed to appease Judge Chutkan once again on Thursday in their final attempt to keep the damning evidence away from the public until after November 5th.
Judge Chutkan rejected that argument in her decision, writing that Trump’s request for a delay posed a bigger risk of impacting the election.
“There is undoubtedly a public interest in courts not inserting themselves into elections, or appearing to do so,” Judge Chutkan wrote. “But litigation’s incidental effects on politics are not the same as a court’s intentional interference with them.
“As a result, it is, in fact, Defendant’s requested relief that risks undermining that public interest,” she wrote.
Spread over four volumes, the newly released pages focus on three categories of information: evidence used in Smith’s prior case filings; public information relating to Trump, such as social media posts and campaign fundraising emails; and information released by the January 6th House Select Committee regarding the riot at the Capitol.
This is a breaking and developing story, please check back for updates.