Trump files 'powerhouse' motion calling for Special Counsel Jack Smith to be held in contempt of court

Former President Trump’s attorneys filed what his campaign called a "powerhouse" motion on Thursday calling for a federal judge to hold Special Counsel Jack Smith in contempt of court for allegedly "repeatedly violating" a stay order in his 2020 election investigation.

Smith’s case against Trump, the 2024 GOP frontrunner, is on pause as Trump’s attorneys appeal the case, and argued that presidential immunity protects him from being prosecuted. The trial had been set to begin on March 4. 

"The Stay Order is clear, straightforward, and unambiguous," Trump attorney John Lauro wrote in the filing Thursday. "All substantive proceedings in this Court are halted. Despite this clarity, the prosecutors began violating the Stay almost immediately." 

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Former President Donald Trump and Special Counsel Jack Smith. Smith is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Trump’s immunity claims in the election interference criminal case against him.  (Getty Images)

Lauro said within the first five days of the court pausing proceedings, Smith’s team "served thousands of pages of additional discovery, together with a purported draft exhibit list." 

"Through counsel, President Trump advised that he rejected the prosecutors’ unlawful productions, that their actions violated the Stay Order, and that he would seek relief if their malicious conduct continued." 

Lauro also said Smith filed an "expansive motion in limine less than 10 days later," which he said "teems with partisan rhetoric, including false claims that President Trump ‘propagates irrelevant disinformation’ both ‘within the courtroom’ and ‘outside of it.’"

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Lauro also said that motion "mirrors the Biden administration’s dishonest talking points, asserting, again falsely, that President Trump was responsible for the events of January 6, 2021, when in truth he called for peaceful and patriotic assembly and protest." 

"In this manner, the prosecutors seek to weaponize the Stay to spread political propaganda, knowing that President Trump would not fully respond because the Court relieved him of the burdens of litigation during the Stay," Lauro wrote. "Worse, the prosecutors have announced their intention to continue this partisan-driven misconduct indefinitely, effectively converting this Court’s docket into an arm of the Biden campaign." 

Lauro argued that Smith and federal prosecutors should be held in contempt of court, be required to "immediately" withdraw their motion in liming and "improper" productions, and be forbidden from submitting further filings during the stay. Lauro also said they should assess "monetary sanctions in the amount of President Trump’s reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses incurred in responding to the prosecutors’ improper productions and filings."

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Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital that Trump has "filed a powerhouse motion to hold Crooked Joe Biden’s henchman, Deranged Jack Smith, in contempt of Court for repeatedly violating the stay order in the Washington DC J6 Witch Hunt."

"Smith was ordered to not take any further action in the trial court until the Presidential Immunity issue is resolved, which should be a full dismissal of this ‘case’ because President Trump was carrying out his duty as President to investigate the Rigged and Stolen 2020 Presidential Election," Cheung said. "Rather than respect the rule of law, Jack Smith unilaterally decided to disobey the stay order and continue with his harassing litigation, all done in order to keep parroting the pathetic Biden Campaign’s corrupt talking points in the name of election interference."

Cheung explained that, "as a result, President Trump is seeking to hold Deranged Jack in contempt of Court."

"No prosecutor is above the law," Cheung said.

Trump, in August, pleaded not guilty in federal court to all four federal charges stemming from Smith's investigation into 2020 election interference and the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Trump is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights.

Smith filed an argument disputing Trump's claim to presidential immunity in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently rejected Smith's appeal to expedite their assessment of the immunity claim before it went fully through a federal appeals court. Trump's legal team asked the court to deny Smith's request.

Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.

Brooke joined Fox News in 2014. She covers the White House, presidential politics, federal investigations, national security, elections and more.

Brooke graduated from Boston University in 2014 with a B.S. in Broadcast Journalism and a minor in Political Science.

You can reach her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Twitter.