Special counsel Jack Smith filed his highly anticipated presidential immunity court filing on Thursday, which is expected to contain a trove of evidence to support his election interference charges against former President Donald Trump.
The document remained under seal on Friday, and it was unclear when or if presiding Judge Tanya Chutkan would unseal a redacted version.
Smith spokesman Peter Carr confirmed to the Washington Examiner in a brief statement that prosecutors had submitted the filing, saying they “complied with the court’s order.”
The filing was expected to include never-before-seen FBI interview notes and transcripts from grand jury testimonies. It may be Smith’s last chance before the election to showcase evidence he has gathered against Trump, but what the public is able to see of it remains unclear.
Smith’s team had indicated it would submit both a sealed version of the document and a version for the public that would have sensitive information redacted, but Trump’s defense team and Chutkan must also review the redacted version before the judge unseals it.
The document was expected to be roughly four times the size of a typical court filing. Prosecutors had asked Chutkan if they could submit the mammoth filing to create a “robust record” of why their indictment should pass the Supreme Court’s immunity test, and Chutkan granted it.
Trump’s defense attorneys fought the request, arguing that prosecutors would prematurely “litter” the court docket with information that would soon be irrelevant once the immunity question and other concerns they had were settled. Trump’s attorneys have said they believe all the challenges they plan to raise with the indictment will eventually lead to the case being tossed out.
Smith’s filing comes in lieu of a preelection trial after the Supreme Court ruled this summer that presidents enjoy some immunity from criminal prosecution and ordered the lower court to reexamine Trump’s charges.
The landmark decision thrust Smith’s case into a state of uncertainty and forced the special counsel to file a shorter, superseding indictment against Trump that included the same four election-related charges but a narrower set of allegations.
The revised indictment was Smith’s attempt to comply with the Supreme Court’s newly established definition of presidential immunity. His massive brief, though currently under seal, was Smith’s opportunity to argue to the judge why he believes the indictment is still in alignment with the high court’s ruling.
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Trump will have a chance to respond to Smith’s arguments, but Chutkan will have the final say over what conduct of Trump is deemed immune and, therefore, off-limits from being used in his prosecution. Chutkan’s decision will be appealable, and any appeal is likely to build several more months into the already protracted prosecution.
Chutkan recently conceded in a hearing that there was no point in setting a trial date with so many questions about the case unresolved.