Judge denies Trump's request to delay publication of evidence in January 6 case until after election

United States District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan on Thursday denied former President Donald Trump's request to delay the publication of evidence in his January 6 case, stating that the request did not meet the six factors for keeping the evidence sealed.

Chutkan agreed to lift the seal on the evidence last week, and previously released special prosecutor Jack Smith's large briefing on the case, with some redactions. The new disclosure, which will go out on Friday, will include some of those redacted exhibits, which could include evidence like grand jury transcripts and other texts.

Trump's legal team requested that Chutkan delay the release until they can gather their own evidence to counter the exhibits, but Chutkan determined that the request did not satisfy the requirements for keeping it sealed, and that Trump's team had ample time to file its rebuttal to the evidence by the existing Nov. 7 deadline.

Chutkan also strongly refuted Trump's argument that the release will create "a concerning appearance of election interference," and asserted that it is Trump's request that gives an appearance of election interference.

"There is undoubtedly a public interest in courts not inserting themselves into elections, or appearing to do so," Chutkan wrote. "But litigation’s incidental effects on politics are not the same as a court’s intentional interference with them ... 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.

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

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.