WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith warned Tuesday that former President Donald Trump’s “daily” statements risk tainting a jury pool in Washington in the criminal case charging him with scheming to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Trump’s provocative comments about both Smith’s team and U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan — who is presiding over the case — have been a central issue since the indictment was filed last month. Prosecutors have repeatedly signaled their concerns about the impact of Trump’s social media posts and Chutkan explicitly warned Trump against inflammatory remarks that could intimidate witnesses or contaminate potential jurors.

The posts continued Tuesday both before and after the latest concern flared, with Trump earlier in the day circulating a New York Post story about Chutkan on his Truth Social platform and openly mocking the idea that she could be fair in his case. Later in the evening, he issued another post in which he attacked Smith as a “deranged” prosecutor with “unchecked and insane aggression.”

The latest complaint from the Justice Department underscores the extent to which Trump’s social media attacks are testing the patience of prosecutors and also risk exposing him to sanctions from the judge, who last week set a trial date of March 4, 2024 in an effort to keep the case moving. Trump has faced warnings in other cases, too, with a condition of his release in a separate prosecution in Atlanta being that he refrain from intimidating co-defendants, witnesses or victims in the case.

The subject surfaced again Tuesday in a dispute over a filing that the Justice Department sought to make under seal that it suggested concerned sensitive information, with an accompanying redacted version to be filed on the public dockets. Defense lawyers objected, countering that they were entitled to time to review the Justice Department’s filings and any proposed sealed exhibits.

But prosecutors said it would untenable for the court to take several weeks to decide whether “every ordinary filing that refers to Sensitive Materials may be docketed.”

“Such a requirement would grind litigation in this case to a halt, which is particularly infeasible given the pressing matters before the Court — including the defendant’s daily extrajudicial statements that threaten to prejudice the jury pool in this case, as described in the Government’s motion,” the Smith team wrote.

Chutkan agreed with the Trump team that it should have time to respond to the Justice Department’s filings and set deadlines for next week.

Trump faces three other prosecutions besides the federal election subversion case. He’s charged with 18 others in a state case in Atlanta with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia; faces federal charges from Smith accusing him of illegally hoarding classified documents; and is accused in New York of falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment to a porn actor.

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ATLANTA (AP) — Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on Thursday and sought to sever his case from some other defendants who are accused along with him of illegally trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee had set arraignment hearings on Sept. 6 for Trump and the 18 others charged in the case. Trump’s court filing entering a not guilty plea also waived arraignment, meaning he won’t have to show up for that.

The decision to skip an in-person appearance averts the dramatic arraignments that have accompanied the three other criminal cases Trump faces, in which the Republican former president has been forced amid tight security into a courtroom and entered “not guilty” pleas before crowds of spectators. Georgia courts have fairly permissive rules on news cameras in the courtroom, and this means Trump won’t have to enter a plea on television.

McAfee said Thursday that he planned to allow live-streaming of the trial on a Fulton County-provided YouTube channel. He said he would also allow video and photographs to be shot by press pool members.

Trump and 18 others were charged earlier this month in a 41-count indictment that outlines an alleged scheme to subvert the will of Georgia voters who had chosen Democrat Joe Biden over the Republican incumbent in the presidential election.

An attorney for Trump also asked McAfee on Thursday to separate his case from those of defendants who have asked for an expedited trial. The judge has already set an Oct. 23 trial date for one of those defendants. Giving the former president less than two months to prepare a defense against a 98-page indictment would “violate President Trump’s federal and state constitutional rights to a fair trial and due process of law,” attorney Steve Sadow said in a court filing.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has said she wants all of the defendants tried together. After one defendant filed a demand for a speedy trial, she asked the judge to set an Oct. 23 trial date for everyone.

Thursday’s developments add to the pre-trial legal jousting that has dominated the two weeks since the indictment was brought, underscoring the complexities inherent in attempting to bring 19 defendants to trial at once — including an ex-president — and foreshadowing the delays ahead as judges sift through competing arguments from the defendants.

Jenna Ellis, an attorney who prosecutors say was involved in efforts to persuade state lawmakers to unlawfully appoint presidential electors, also pleaded not guilty and waived arraignment Thursday.

Three other people charged in the indictment had already waived arraignment in filings with the court, saving them a repeat trip to Atlanta after they all turned themselves in at the Fulton County Jail last week. Trump surrendered at the jail on Aug. 24, where he became the first former president to have a mug shot taken.

The case, filed under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, is sprawling, and the logistics of bringing it to trial are likely to be complicated.

At least two defendants have filed demands for a speedy trial and have asked to be tried separately from others in the case. The judge set an Oct. 23 trial date for one of them, Kenneth Chesebro, a lawyer who worked on the coordination and execution of a plan to have 16 Georgia Republicans sign a certificate falsely stating that Trump won the state and declaring themselves the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors.

Some of the others charged are trying to move their cases to federal court. A judge on Monday heard arguments on such a request by former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, but the judge did not immediately rule.

Trump, the front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, has criticized the cases against him as part of a politically motivated attempt to keep him from winning back the White House.

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