Trump legal team says special counsel twisting ‘into logical knots’ in debate over delaying trial

Former President Trump’s legal team said special counsel Jack Smith is twisting “into logical knots” in his latest court filing before the Supreme Court takes up his federal election subversion case. 

In the latest 15-page Thursday filing, Trump’s attorneys argued Smith is practicing “inference of a political motive,” in reference to the special counsel’s urging Wednesday that the Supreme Court reject Trump’s bid to delay the trial. 

“The Special Counsel’s latest filing raises a compelling inference of a political motive — the motivation to influence the 2024 Presidential election by bringing the leading Republican candidate to trial before November 5, 2024,” Trump’s lawyers wrote. 

The latest filing comes amid a broader battle to further delay his March 4 trial, where proceedings are on hold as he appeals the rejection of his immunity arguments.

Trump’s legal team has asked the courts to toss the case entirely, arguing that, as a former president, he is immune from criminal prosecution. Two courts have now rejected those claims.

Smith argued against Trump’s request to the Supreme Court to delay his trial by freezing the ruling that rejected his immunity claims. 

Smith urged the justices in a Wednesday filing to allow the trial to move on as it “involves federal criminal charges against a former President for alleged criminal efforts to overturn the results of the Presidential election, including through the use of official power.” 

On Thursday, Trump’s legal team argued Smith’s attempt to go forward with the trial puts him in a “logical” conundrum. 

“Pursuing that partisan motivation twists the Special Counsel into logical knots, as he now begs this Court not to decide issues that, two months ago, he begged the Court to decide,” Trump’s lawyers wrote. 

The former president’s appeal potentially sets the stage for a landmark case at the Supreme Court that could decide the bounds of presidential immunity. 

Earlier this month, an appeals court upheld the lower court ruling, with a three-judge panel deciding that Trump is not immune from criminal prosecution as a former commander in chief, shattering his goal of throwing out the election interference federal case on those bases.