Trump 'overplayed his hand' with demand Jack Smith pay some of his legal expenses: expert

A new filing from Donald Trump's lawyers that asks, among other things, for special counsel Jack Smith to help pay for some of the former president's legal fees is unlikely to go anywhere.

That is the opinion of former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance who conceded that Trump's legal team may have a point that Smith may be testing the bounds of a stay that was put in place and is holding up proceedings in Judge Tanya Chutkan's courtroom.

In the latest accusation made by Trump's lawyers, Smith should be ordered to cease and desist from making additional filings contesting the former president's claim of presidential immunity related to the Jan. 6 insurrection while the Supreme Court reviews it.

Adding to that, Trump's lawyers stated that it was "entirely appropriate" Smith should be forced to compensate the former president for "damages sustained as a result from noncompliance." These damages would include attorneys' fees and additional expenses Trump would be on the hook for as his lawyers respond to "improper productions and filing."

According to the Trump team, their request is "quite modest."

But according to legal analyst Joyce Vance, it's a bridge too far.

ALSO READ: Stiffed: How Trump's campaign visits cost local police departments

On her 'Civil Discourse" Substack platform, Vance wrote, "Smith’s position is that he can still file to ‘provide the court and defendant notice’ as well as to ‘promote the prompt resumption of the pretrial schedule’ if Trump loses his appeal. It’s likely Judge Chutkan will weigh in at some point on whether Smith’s assessment of this is correct.”

As she sees it, the Trump lawyers' response went too far.

"Trump has overplayed his hand with the request for a contempt order and damages. Smith did not ask for permission before filing, which might have been the better practice here, but he did explain to the court why he thought he was entitled to file, noting that he was filing without imposing any additional 'litigation burden' on Trump to try and avoid further delays," she wrote before adding she sees no evidence Smith was acting in "bad faith."

She noted the court chose to not reject Smith's filings, before suggesting he could be on the receiving end of a warning.

"She may tell Smith to knock it off while the appeal is ongoing, but Trump’s request that the Judge hold the government in contempt is an overreach," she added.

You can read more here.