Special Counsel Jack Smith slammed Donald Trump for attempts to turn his Washington D.C. election fraud trial into “a carnival” Monday with a new motion demanding proceedings not be televised, court records show.
Smith’s memo to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan condemned Trump’s attorney’s requests to allow audio and video recording in the courtroom as just another attempt to campaign during the trial, arguing the former president would stop trying to delay proceedings if transparency was his primary goal.
“If the defendant sought sunlight as he claims, he should welcome the opportunity to put the Government to its proof at trial,” Smith wrote.
“Instead, his response to the applications shows that he will continue to attempt to avoid answering for his criminal conduct in the courtroom while at the same time publicly grandstanding on the Court’s docket.”
“Sunlight” is a direct reference to Trump’s attorneys’ Friday filings warning Smith wanted to prosecute a presidential candidate away from public scrutiny.
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"The prosecution wishes to continue this travesty in darkness,” the filing reads. ”President Trump calls for sunlight.”
Smith notes that it is common court practice to ban recording in high-profile federal cases. This shows Smith has precedent on his side, he argued, unlike Trump.
[Trump] does not cite a single rule or case in support of his position, because there are none," Smith writes.
"He desires instead to create a carnival atmosphere from which he hopes to profit by distracting, like many fraud defendants try to do, from the charges against him.”
As of Monday, it remains unclear when Chutkan will issue her decision on the matter.
