Donald Trump Wants Jack Smith to Give Him Money

Former President Donald Trump is arguing that Special Counsel Jack Smith should be held in contempt of court for violating a past order that halted activity related to his federal election subversion case and has asked a judge to require prosecutors to compensate him for related sustained damages.

Trump's legal team claimed in a court filing Thursday that federal prosecutors investigating allegations that the former president attempted to overturn the 2020 election results violated U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan's order last month to temporarily pause all proceedings pending the outcome of Trump's presidential immunity appeal. Trump has argued that he is immune to the charges because the actions listed in Smith's indictment fell under his "official acts" as president.

Chutkan rejected Trump's application for immunity earlier in December, and the former president's appeal of that decision has been sent to the Washington, D.C. Court of Appeals. A three-judge panel is scheduled to hear arguments on the case next Tuesday.

Trump's argument on Thursday points to a filing by Smith's team in late December, which asked the court to limit what Trump can say during his testimony related to the trial. The former president's team said the document is full of "partisan rhetoric, including false claims that President Trump 'propagates irrelevant disinformation' both 'within the courtroom' and 'outside of it.'"

The defense team said the prosecutors were seeking to "weaponize" Chutkan's stay in the case "to spread political propaganda, knowing that President Trump would not fully respond because the Court relieved him of the burdens of litigation during the Stay."

In addition to asking that prosecutors be held in contempt of court, Trump's team argued that it was "entirely appropriate" that Smith should be ordered to compensate the former president for any "damages sustained as a result from noncompliance." Such damages would include all attorneys' fees and other expenses Trump incurred by responding to Smith's "improper productions and filing."

"Indeed, considering the equally significant harms the prosecutors' actions have imposed on the public by undermining the purpose of the stay—ensuring immune
officials can confidently exercise their discretion without fear of litigation—this request is quite modest," the filing read.

A spokesperson for Smith's office declined Newsweek's request for comment.

Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Newsweek on Thursday that he finds it unlikely Chutkan will hold Smith in contempt for violating the stay order.

"Although it's true that she stayed or paused proceedings while Trump appeals presidential immunity, contempt usually requires a knowing or willful violation of a court order," Rahmani said. "Improper filings usually do not meet that standard."

"What's more likely is the judge strikes the motion as violating the stay in the case," he said.

Trump is facing four criminal cases, which include 91 felony charges in total, as he campaigns for reelection in 2024. The former president has denied any wrongdoing across all cases and has pled not guilty to all charges against him. He also has repeatedly accused prosecutors, including Smith, of acting out of political motivation to upset his election chances and help President Joe Biden's campaign.

"Rather than respect the rule of law Jack Smith unilaterally decided to disobey the stay order and continue with his harassing litigation, all done in order to keep parroting the pathetic Biden campaign's corrupt talking points in the name of election interference," Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump, said in a statement Thursday, adding, "No prosecutor is above the law."

Update 1/4/24, 4:52 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional comment from Smith's office.