DOJ Asking Courts To Muzzle Washed Up 45!

Jack Smith fears Washed Up 45 will taint his cases.

Special Counsel Jack Smith is getting fed up with Washed Up 45 running his mouth claiming his investigations are a political witch hunt. The former president is facing two federal indictments in Washington, DC and Florida.

The former president was indicted on 37 counts related to the documents. This was the first time a former U.S. president was indicted on federal charges. On June 13, 2023, Washed Up 45 was arrested, booked, and processed after surrendering himself into federal custody prior to his arraignment in the U.S. District Court of South Florida. The former president pleaded not guilty to all 37 charges. As part of the conditions for his release, Washed Up 45 avoided paying bond, but was barred from discussing the case with witnesses and speaking with Walt Nauta about the case. Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, the Mar-a-Lago maintenance chief were also criminally charged.

Washed Up 45 and his allies within the Republican Party escalated verbal attacks on the FBI, Justice Department, and federal prosecutors, whom the former president denounced in a speech to the Georgia Republican Party as "cowards", "fascists and thugs", and "sinister forces" days following his indictment.

Washed Up 45 falsely asserted during the days after his indictment that under the Presidential Records Act he "had every right to have these documents." Legal experts said there was no basis for his claim that the PRA superseded the Espionage Act under which he was charged. He said, "The Espionage Act has been used to go after traitors and spies. It has nothing to do with a former president legally keeping his own documents," though, despite its name, that Act is not limited to espionage allegations. The former president also cited the so-called "Clinton socks case," a 2010 lawsuit brought by Judicial Watch arguing that audio recordings of interviews president Bill Clinton had given during his presidency must be turned over to NARA, though the organization had never sought them as presidential records. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit because Judicial Watch had no standing to bring it. Washed Up 45 incorrectly insisted Clinton had won and that the court had recognized his right to the recordings.

Washed Up 45 was interviewed by Bret Baier of Fox News. When Baier asked why he hadn't simply handed over his boxes, The former president said he worried they might contain "golf shirts, clothing, pants, shoes". He claimed he felt at the time: "I don’t want to hand that over to NARA yet." He said he had not dealt with the request because he had been "very busy". He also maintained he had already "declassified" all documents in his possession.

Washed Up 45 gave a speech to the Turning Point Action Conference, claiming: "Whatever documents a president decides to take with him, he has the absolute and unquestioned right to do so." He falsely added: "This was a law that was passed and signed."

Does this look like a man who weighs 215 lbs?

Washed Up 45 was indicted mon four charges for his conduct following the 2020 presidential election through the January 6 Capitol attack: conspiracy to defraud the United States under Title 18 of the United States Code, obstructing an official proceeding and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding under the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002, and conspiracy against rights under the Enforcement Act of 1870. The indictment mentioned six unnamed co-conspirators. If convicted, the charges could carry a maximum of 20 years in prison.

Smith’s team filed documents in court saying Washed Up 45 has made “daily extrajudicial statements that threaten to prejudice the jury pool,” referencing the former president’s repeated statements on social media. Washed Up 45, who was indicted by a federal grand jury over his attempted coup to remain in office, has repeatedly called Smith “deranged” and attacked the judge assigned to the case, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, as “highly partisan” and “unfair.”

Chutkan warned the former president and his attorneys last month against making any “inflammatory” comments about his prosecution, adding that doing so would only add to the “urgency … that we proceed to a trial quickly.”

“I caution you and your client to take special care in your public statements about this case,” the judge told his lawyer in August. “I will take whatever measures are necessary to safeguard the integrity of these proceedings.”

But Washed Up 45 has continued his attacks. On Tuesday, the former president posted on his Truth Social platform an attack on the special counsel for an “unchecked and insane aggression” against him.

Chutkan recently set a trial date for March 4, 2024, six months away, saying the public had the right to a swift case. Washed Up 45’s legal team had argued any prosecution should be pushed back for years, beyond any bid for office or reelection to the White House.

“I want to note here that setting a trial date does not depend and should not depend on the defendant’s personal or professional obligations,” the judge said last week.