Audio By Carbonatix
Donald Trump on Thursday urged a federal judge to toss out two obstruction charges central to the case that the former U.S. president illegally sought to overturn his 2020 election defeat, citing a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling raising the legal bar for those offenses.
Lawyers for Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, argued in a court filing that the Supreme Court's ruling requires U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to dismiss charges accusing Trump of corruptly obstructing an official proceeding – the congressional certification of his loss to Democrat Joe Biden on Jan. 6, 2021 – and conspiring to do so.
Trump is also seeking the dismissal of the two other charges in the indictment on other grounds.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to a four-count indictment accusing him of a multi-part conspiracy to block the collection of votes and certification of his election defeat.
Trump's argument is based on 6-3 Supreme Court decision in June, in which the justices sided with a criminal defendant charged under the same obstruction law who was accused of taking part in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The court found that defendants charged under the law must have acted to impair “the availability or integrity" of documents or other records related to an official proceeding - or attempted to do so.
The indictment alleges that Trump attempted to disrupt the congressional session by creating fraudulent slates of presidential electors pledged to support him in battleground states he lost and then pressured then-Vice President Mike Pence to accept those pro-Trump electors when Pence presided over the certification.
Trump's lawyers argued that prosecutors cannot show that Trump sought to impair evidence related to the election certification and cannot be held responsible for the conduct of rioters who delayed the congressional session.
The filing came a day after prosecutors provided a detailed account of their case against Trump as they argued it survives a separate U.S. Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.
Latest Stories
-
Anti-LGBTQ Bill: NDC’s arrogance is worrying – Hassan Tampuli
4 minutes -
Let’s give OSP time to mature, not to scrap it – Hassan Tampuli
8 minutes -
Nigeria convicts 386 Islamist militants in mass trials
13 minutes -
Djibouti president wins election with 97.8% of vote, state media says
18 minutes -
We don’t have mandate to deduct tax from rent allowance of security services personnel – Interior Ministry clarifies
32 minutes -
Ablakwa receives Presidential Special Envoy on Reparations to advance global agenda
50 minutes -
Christina Koch becomes first woman to travel around the moon on Artemis II
1 hour -
Epstein survivors’ calls to meet King Charles and Queen harder to ignore as US visit approaches
1 hour -
UN Secretary-General names Ghana’s Anita Kiki Gbeho as South Sudan envoy
1 hour -
Mali withdraws recognition of Sahrawi Republic, backs Morocco’s autonomy plan
1 hour -
Gov’t distributes over 8,500 laptops to One Million Coders project
1 hour -
Julius Debrah, ‘man to beat’ as NDC’s James Agbey dismisses Musah Dankwah’s polls
1 hour -
GPRTU in Savannah Region to protest alleged eviction in Damongo
2 hours -
Re: Reinsurance does not replace process — A response to the SIGA–SIC defence
2 hours -
Gender Ministry supports Harriet Amuzu in ongoing abuse case
2 hours