On Oct. 17, she issued an order and opinion arguing that delaying its release would be a form of election interference.

“If the court withheld information that the public otherwise had a right to access solely because of the potential political consequences of releasing it, that withholding could itself constitute—or appear to be—election interference,” she said in her five-page order.

“The court will therefore continue to keep political considerations out of its decision-making, rather than incorporating them as Defendant requests.”

On Oct. 10, Chutkan had authorized the release of the evidence—the appendix to Smith’s immunity motion—in an order on Oct. 10 but delayed its effects for seven days to give Trump an opportunity to evaluate his next steps. In her recent order, she added that the court would issue an order on the following day directing the release of the redacted appendix.

Trump’s attorneys had requested an extension on the delay Judge Chutkan imposed, suggesting instead in an Oct. 17 motion that she should concurrently release both Smith’s appendix and one from Trump’s team.

Trump’s attorneys said that “if the appendices are released simultaneously, at least some press outlets will attempt to report both sides of this case, reducing (although, again, not eliminating) the potential for irreversible prejudice.”

“Similarly, the risk to witnesses will be somewhat reduced, as the public will have a more balanced picture of their testimony and how it connects to this case,” the filing to the judge read.

Chutkan’s motion also said Trump’s team’s justification for delaying the release to help the public gain a better understanding of the issue is “oxymoronic.”

“Setting aside the oxymoronic proposition that the public’s understanding of this case will be enhanced by withholding information about it, any public debate about the issues in this case has no bearing on the court’s resolution of those issues,” she said.

The judge also pushed back on his attorneys’ concerns about tainting the jury pool, saying instead that concerns like that could be addressed in the jury selection process.

Discovery Requests

The filings represented an ongoing back and forth between Judge Chutkan and Trump over the release of evidence—both to Trump and the public.

Chutkan issued an order on Oct. 16 rejecting most of Trump’s requests to compel discovery from Smith’s team. Out of the 14 categories of evidence he requested, Judge Chutkan only granted him three particular sets of information.

To compel discovery means to submit a request to gain access to relevant evidence, including documents or information, held by the other party before a trial begins.

Her 50-page order accused Trump’s legal team of using speculative reasoning to justify the discovery of various items. It also repeatedly argued that Trump had failed to show their relevance to his state of mind during the acts alleged in Smith’s indictment.

“Defendant has only carried his burden with respect to a small portion of the information he seeks. For most of it, he has proffered only speculation that a search will yield material, noncumulative information,” Chutkan said.

The judge added that while Trump “purports to seek much of this information to show his state of mind at the time of his indicted conduct … he does not indicate that he was aware of the requested information such that it could have affected his state of mind.”

Among the requests she denied were those for information that undercut a statement in which the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency described the 2020 election as the most secure in American history. Another included four types of records related to the Intelligence Community’s (IC) assessment of the 2020 election, which outlined its conclusions about foreign actors’ attempts to influence the election.

The discovery she granted included information the director of national intelligence (DNI) said he reviewed prior to his interview with the special counsel’s office. Chutkan noted how Smith’s original indictment alleged that the DNI “disabused [Trump] of the notion that the Intelligence Community’s findings regarding foreign interference would change the outcome of the election.”

She also acquiesced to Trump’s demand for discovery of “evidence relating to the unauthorized retention of classified documents by Vice President Mike Pence,” which she said could be material for impeaching the former vice president as a witness.

Other evidence included information about Trump’s meeting with Gen. Mark Milley and Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller just days before Jan. 6, 2021. More specifically, Trump sought records of information about security measures that were conveyed to him.

Trump’s motion to compel was filed in November of last year and argued for releasing various forms of evidence in order to, among other things, impeach prosecution witnesses and reveal purported political bias among officials in law enforcement and the intelligence community.

“The [Special Counsel’s] Office cannot rely on selected guidance and judgments by officials it favors from the Intelligence Community and law enforcement while ignoring evidence of political bias in those officials’ decision-making as well as cyberattacks and other interference, both actual and attempted, that targeted critical infrastructure and election facilities before, during, and after the 2020 election,” his attorneys said.

Trump has been given until Oct. 30 to file any additional motions to compel discovery related to the presidential immunity issue. Judge Chutkan also granted discovery requests related to the prosecution team and gave Smith until Oct. 26 to provide those materials to Trump.

Between the failed assassination attempt against Trump and the subsequent resignation of the Secret Service’s diversity hire director, Kimberly Cheatle, the stage was set for what should only be viewed as election interference.

Sundance at The Last Refuge agreed:

According to multiple reports, the Secret Service told President Trump to stop holding outdoor MAGA rallies.

That part doesn’t come as a surprise, not because of any security risk, but because in the manufactured optics of the 2024 election Team Chicago cannot maintain the illusion of massive Kamala support. The contrast is against their interests.

Unfortunately it appears the Trump campaign has agreed to accept the restriction.

Former President Donald Trump plans to stop holding outdoor rallies like the one where he was shot in the ear by a sniper earlier this month in Pennsylvania, according to two sources familiar with his campaign’s operations.

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 24, 2024

Nobody could blame Trump or members of his family for taking his security seriously. Indoor venues are generally easier to defend because of the limited space to cover. But this move greatly limits the venues and cities where Trump can hold rallies. With crowds in the tens of thousands, his team will have to secure locations well ahead of time which hampers them strategically.

Mark this as a win for the Deep State.

Andrews filed a request with the Maine Revisor’s Office, indicating his desire to file a Joint Order or the appropriate parliamentary mechanism under Mason’s Rules to impeach Secretary of State Shenna Bellows. He criticized the process of appointing Constitutional Officers in Maine, asserting that they are selected by elected Democrat Party insiders through partisan deals in the State House.

In his statement, Andrews emphasized that he aims to impeach Bellows based on the grounds that she is preventing an American citizen, the 45th President of the United States, who has not been convicted of any crime or impeachment, from appearing on the Maine Republican Party ballot in March.

He accused Bellows of displaying hyper-partisanship, asserting that her decision is driven by political motives. Andrews highlighted the importance of upholding the democratic process and criticized the perceived lack of neutrality in Bellows’ actions.

Andrews’ press release cited a social media post in which he characterized Bellows’ decision as “hyper-partisanship on full display” and alleged that it serves her political ambitions.

In response to the controversy, Bellows defended her move during a CNN interview, stating that she carefully reviewed Section Three of the 14th Amendment and interpreted it to include Trump’s engagement in the January 6, 2021, events as an insurrection. She emphasized the weight of evidence indicating an attack on the Capitol and the rule of law.

The decision by Bellows to disqualify Trump from the 2024 primary ballot is part of a broader trend, as similar actions have been taken in other states, including Colorado, referencing the same constitutional clause. The controversy surrounding Bellows’ decision has sparked discussions on the interpretation of the 14th Amendment and its application to individuals who participated in events like the January 6 insurrection.

Article generated from corporate media reports.

According to the Boston Globe:

Maine’s Democratic secretary of state on Thursday removed former President Donald Trump from the state’s presidential primary ballot under the Constitution’s insurrection clause, becoming the first election official to take action unilaterally in a decision that has potential Electoral College consequences.

While Maine has just four electoral votes, it’s one of two states to split them. Trump won one of Maine’s electors in 2020, so having him off the ballot there should he emerge as the Republican general election candidate could have outsized implications in a race that is expected to be narrowly decided.

The decision by Secretary of State Shenna Bellows follows a December ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court that booted Trump from the ballot there under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Colorado is a Democratic-leaning state that is not expected to be competitive for Republicans in November.

Let’s be perfectly clear about something that corporate media keeps bringing up. They say Trump wouldn’t win in Colorado anyway. They’re saying he might get 1 electoral vote in Maine. None of that matters. This is an attack on our Constitutional Republic regardless of whether a state leans red or blue. Voters should have the final say and taking away their protected right to vote for eligible candidates is disgraceful.

Shenna Bellows is a mediocre person and a stain on our nation. Everyone in Maine, Republican or Democrat, should be appalled. The entire country should be.

Sound off about this story on my Substack.

That means, according to John Daniel Davidson writing at the Federalist, that the bureau has now “directly interfered in two consecutive presidential elections, placing a heavy hand on the scales to benefit Democrats in 2016 and 2020, all in hopes of keeping Donald Trump out of the White House.”

“It would not be too much to say the FBI is a threat to democracy and that it should be disbanded,” he explained.

He cited information from U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who for months has been investigating various Washington Deep State components, and their actions against the nation.

Grassley revealed “numerous ‘highly credible whistleblowers’ have come forward about ‘a scheme in place among certain FBI officials to undermine derogatory information connected to Hunter Biden by falsely suggesting it was disinformation.’”

“Grassley’s letter tells a shocking tale that should enrage every American, regardless of party, in part because some of the same FBI agents who interfered in the 2016 election did it again in 2020. Whistleblowers say that in August 2020, FBI supervisory intelligence agent Brian Auten ‘opened an assessment’ of an ongoing FBI investigation of Hunter Biden, and that this assessment was used by FBI headquarters ‘to improperly discredit negative Hunter Biden information as disinformation and caused investigative activity to cease,’” the report said.

Davidson pointed out that Auten previously was “deeply involved” in the false narrative created by Democrats to make up allegations that the Trump campaign in 2016 was colluding with Russia, claims that now have been debunked.

“It was Auten who was in charge of verifying the phony Steele dossier but failed to flag its many errors and inconsistencies. He interviewed Igor Danchenko, a Russian-born lawyer who was the main source for the Steele dossier’s outlandish claims, three times in 2017. During those interviews, Danchenko undercut claims of collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow, raising serious doubt about the reliability of the dossier,” Davidson explained.

“Auten was also in charge of reviewing the flawed Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act application to spy on Trump campaign associate Carter Page, which relied on the discredited dossier,” he noted.

“But it doesn’t stop there. Grassley’s letter also includes allegations from whistleblowers that the FBI assistant special agent in charge of the Washington field office, Timothy Thibault, ‘ordered closed’ an ‘avenue of additional derogatory Hunter Biden reporting’ in October 2020, a month before the election, without giving a reason as required by FBI guidelines, despite the reporting being ‘verified or verifiable via criminal search warrants,” Davidson continued.

That means Thibault closed an investigation that had uncovered the truth.

“If Grassley’s sources are telling the truth, what we have here — at the very least — is a conspiracy inside the FBI to suppress an investigation into Joe Biden’s son in the months before the election. Why would the FBI do such a thing?” he asked.

Perhaps because they saw that “verifiable derogatory information” about Hunter Biden “would kill Joe Biden’s chances of ousting Trump from the White House.”

At this point, Davidson said in his commentary, “We need to know everything. The FBI and the Justice Department need to give Grassley everything he asked for, and there needs to be a full investigation (perhaps by a special counsel). Then if the allegations turn out to be true and the FBI really did intervene in the 2020 election as Grassley’s letter suggests, the forthcoming GOP congressional majority needs to disband — or at least defund — the FBI.”

Image via GetArchive, Public Domain. Article cross-posted from our news partners at WND News Center.