Special counsel Jack Smith’s office said in court papers filed on Wednesday that former President Donald Trump should be prohibited from making “political attacks” about his federal 2020 election subversion criminal prosecution at trial, specifically that he be barred from telling jurors he is being selectively prosecuted.

That is, Special Counsel Smith claims the power to tell a criminal defendant what arguments he and his lawyer can and cannot use to a jury. For example, if Trump is targeted politically, he must not say, “I was targeted politically.” Truth is no defense – he can’t criticize the prosecution for doing what it is actually doing.

How is this different, in any practical way, from the prosecutor simply deciding that the defendant is guilty and saving the trouble and expense of s trial? If the defendant and his lawyer can say only what the prosecutor allows him to say, the right to be tried by a jury and defended by a lawyer become meaningless jokes.