In a federal criminal case against former President Donald Trump in Washington, Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office filed two motions aimed at President Trump’s defense strategy and juror identities. The defense has opposed both motions.

In the first motion, the Government asks the Court to force Donald Trump to waive attorney-client privilege.  The Government believes President Trump will use an advice-of-counsel defense, which would claim that he acted on legal advice when challenging the 2020 election results. The Government is demanding that President Trump declare whether he intends to pursue this defense so that normally confidential information between attorney and client can be shared with prosecutors before the trial.

Read the motion HERE:

Docket # 23-CR-00257 – Document # 98 – Government’s Opposed Motion for Formal Pretrial Notice of the Defendant’s Intent to Rely Upon Advice-of-Counsel Defense filed 10-10-2023

The prosecutors also highlight that 25 witnesses withheld information under attorney-client privilege, including co-conspirators, former campaign employees, and outside attorneys. If President Trump proceeds with this defense, some of these communications may become available to the prosecutors, though it may negatively impact co-defendants in another case in Georgia.

In the Georgia case, President Trump and 18 co-defendants face charges related to conspiring to overturn accurate election results. Some of these co-defendants, like Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, are attorneys, and a few are demanding speedy trials. Attorney Kenneth Chesebro, who was retained by the Trump campaign, has been fighting to keep his emails private. The Fulton County prosecutors argue that these emails are not protected by attorney-client privilege, as they relate to political acts and advice admissible as evidence in court.

If the Federal court in Washington allows these communications as evidence, the Fulton County prosecutors may make similar arguments. An email from Chesebro has already been used against attorney John Eastman in his disbarment trial in California.

In a second motion, the Federal prosecutors want to prevent President Trump from researching potential jurors’ social media, citing a recent incident where he revealed a judge’s clerk’s social media account. They propose pre-screening jurors through a questionnaire to reveal their identities before in-person selection and request additional restrictions to keep juror identities private.

Read the motion HERE:

Docket # 23-CR-00257 – Document # 97 – Government’s Opposed Motion for Fair and Protective Jury Procedures filed 10-10-2023

The prosecutors claim that President Trump has a history of using social media to attack others and should be prevented from “following” or “friending” potential jurors. They suggest penalties if President Trump discloses juror identities to the public. Similar measures have been taken in previous cases involving President Trump to protect juror identities.