You’re a mean one, Mr. Smith: Trump attorneys call special counsel the Grinch in court filing
Trump’s lawyers used the holiday jeer in arguing that a federal appeals court should deny Jack Smith’s bid to expedite an appeal on the former president’s immunity claims.
Dec. 13, 2023, 5:37 PM EST1/2
Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly called special counsel Jack Smith“deranged” and a “thug.” Now his attorneys are comparing him to the Grinch.
Trump’s lawyers made the comparison in a court filing Wednesday that unsuccessfully urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to rule against Smith’s request for an expedited appeal on whether Trump can claim presidential immunity in a criminal case accusing him of illegally trying to stay in power after his 2020 election loss.
In the filing, Trump’s attorneys said that signing off on Smith’s proposed schedule“would make President Trump’s opening brief due the day after Christmas. This proposed schedule would require attorneys and support staff to work round-the-clock through the holidays, inevitably disrupting family and travel plans.It is as if the Special Counsel ‘growled, with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming, “I must find some way to keep Christmas from coming. … But how?”'"=
That’s a reference to Dr. Seuss’ classic “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” about a character with a heart two sizes too small who hates the whole Christmas season and plots to sabotage the holiday.
Peter Carr, a spokesperson for Smith’s office, declined comment.
Prosecutors filed their response to Trump’s legal arguments Wednesday and suggested Trump’s attorneys had their math wrong, saying their filing would be due Dec. 23, not Dec. 26. “In any event, the public’s need for a speedy resolution of these important legal issues take precedence over personal scheduling issues,” prosecutors wrote.
They did not mention Trump’s holiday jab.
In a ruling late Wednesday, the appeals court granted Smith's request without explanation. They ordered Trump's team to file their brief in the case by Dec. 23, and gave Smith until Dec. 30 to respond. Trump will then have until Jan. 2 to file to response to that filing. Oral arguments will then be held at a later date.
That decision was handed down after the judge presiding over the underlying criminal case, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, halted proceedings in the case until the immunity appeal is resolved.
In their Wednesday filing, Trump’s attorneys had urged the appeals court not to rush.
“This appeal presents novel, complex, and sensitive questions of profound importance,”they wrote. “Whether a President of the United States may be criminally prosecuted for his official acts as President goes to the core of our system of separated powers and will stand among the most consequential questions ever decided by this Court. The manifest public interest lies in the Court’s careful and deliberate consideration of these momentous issues with the utmost care and diligence.”…
(They use a semi sympathetic picture of Smith)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-attorneys-call-special-counsel-grinch-court-filing-rcna129548