Lawyers for Donald Trump filed several motions on Monday in response to the federal charges against him relating to the 2020 election, which could impact some Capitol rioters.
Trump was previously indicted for his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election results following an investigation by Special Counsel Jack Smith. Trump was accused of conspiring to obstruct the role of Congress in certifying the 2020 election results. In a motion on Monday, Trump’s lawyers called for the case to be dismissed “on the basis of selective and vindictive prosecution.”
The motion goes on to accuse U.S. President Joe Biden of pressuring the U.S. Department of Justice to take legal action against Trump.
“Less than a week before President Trump announced his candidacy for the Presidency in the 2024 election, Biden used the White House itself to tell anyone listening that he was ‘making sure’ that President Trump ‘does not become the next President again,'” the motion said.
“Three days after President Trump formally announced his candidacy, the Special Counsel was put in place as part of a flawed effort to insulate Biden and his supporters from scrutiny of their obvious and illegal bias,” the motion continued.
“Public statements by Biden and news reports sourced to government personnel with direct knowledge of the relevant events make out prima facie cases of selective prosecution and vindictive prosecution.”
Newsweek reached out to Trump’s spokesperson via email for comment.
Scott McFarlane of CBS News pointed out on X, formerly Twitter, that the “selective prosecution” filing by Trump’s legal team echoes claims made by many January 6 Capitol riot defendants.
“Among other things: He claims ‘selective prosecution,’ argument which has universally failed Jan 6 defendants who’ve tried it,” McFarlane wrote.
Michael McAuliffe, a former federal prosecutor and elected state attorney, told Newsweek on Tuesday that Trump’s “motions have little to no chance of success because they are not supported by the applicable law or the facts.”
“The claim that Trump is subject to a selective prosecution regarding election subversion case is belied by the publicly available fact that over 1,100 individuals have been charged in connection with the Capitol attacks, some of whom were charged with the same statutory offenses as in Trump’s case,” McAuliffe said.
“The Capitol riot is alleged in many of the more significant cases to be one of the means undertaken to subvert the 2020 presidential election results and illegally interfere with official proceedings. Not surprisingly, that’s exactly how the federal indictment in the Trump election subversion case explains the Capitol riot.”
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McAuliffe added that there is “no realistic chance” that Trump’s motions will be granted but noted that: “The theoretical success of Trump’s motion regarding selective prosecution would not assist the over one thousand individuals already charged with crimes arising from the Capitol attack or the related activities. The operative word is ‘selective’—.”
Dave Aronberg, the state attorney for Palm Beach County, Florida, told Newsweek that if Trump is able to prevail with his motion, “it will help future January 6th defendants with their own ‘selective prosecution’ claims. It will be harder for non-former presidents to make that claim, but a Trump victory in court would give future defendants a lifeline.”
Aronberg said Trump’s chances of succeeding with his motion are low.
Andrew Lieb, an attorney and political analyst, told Newsweek that “if Judge [Tanya] Chutkan agrees with Donald Trump’s motion to dismiss on selective prosecution grounds, it’s going to send shockwaves throughout the legal world well beyond the January 6 defendants who would then have a similar defense, albeit not the same fact pattern.
“In all, this is a dart thrown at the wall, but it’s not going to stick for Trump, the January 6 defendants, or anyone else. Yet, Trump’s team knows this, and so they hedge by asking for a hearing on the issue because his real goal is to delay through this motion and a hearing, not to dismiss the case, which he knows is not happening on these grounds.”
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.