Prosecutors in the federal trial of Bunkerville rancher Cliven Bundy and three other defendants began this week trying to clear what they consider the defense team's smokescreen.

They may find out today whether U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro is seeing the case their way.

Acting U.S. Attorney Steven Myhre on Monday filed a 26-page motion requesting Navarro preclude the use of "legally invalid" defense arguments by attorneys for Bundy, sons Ammon Bundy and Ryan Bundy, and self-described militia coordinator Ryan Payne in a trial that could send the accused to prison for decades. Those defenses include self-defense or the defense of others, entrapment, instigation/provocation, the justification for violent self-help, state-of-mind justification and other arguments deemed collateral attacks on the federal court's orders. None of those defenses is permissible, Myhre argued, and could lead to illegal jury nullification.

More than once Myhre referenced Navarro's ruling in the second Bundy-related trial in which she substantially limited the possible defenses available to men accused of acting as gunmen and intimidators for the ranching family. In summation he wrote, "The Court has precluded such evidence in previous trials. The government respectfully requests that it extend those ruling to this case as well and preclude evidence of instigation and provocation as advancing jury nullification rather than a cognizable defense."

The prosecution motion is attempting to counter a flurry of defense motions to dismiss in recent days, some of which have been bolstered by newly discovered evidence helpful to the defense's argument that the Bundy family felt it was surrounded by armed federal officers and in danger when it called for militia assistance to halt a court-ordered cattle impoundment. Navarro last week called out the prosecution for failing to produce FBI memos and other documents that showed armed federal officials were indeed watching the Bundy Ranch and the immediate area several days prior to the April 12, 2014 standoff.

But none of that should matter, Myhre said.

"Also, nothing about the presence of either cameras or snipers provides an excuse, justification, or defense to the charges in this case," the motion states. "These matters are simply not relevant to a claim of self-defense as they are not relevant to any element of self-defense."

Members of the defense team have cited some of those documents in stating publicly they anticipated Navarro would declare a mistrial Wednesday when the jury finally returned from a hastily scheduled, week-long recess.

Myhre took pains to try to knock down the newly discovered materials.

"To the extent defendants seek to offer evidence of surveillance cameras, uniforms, number of officers, weapons carried, and training the officers receive, none of that is relevant to show excessive force or a reason to assault officers," he wrote. "This type of evidence amounts only to nullification arguments -- putting the victims in the case in the position of having to justify their every move when no force was used."

It wasn't a legal argument, but the motion offered an anecdote clearly meant to clear the haze and remind doubters -- perhaps including the judge herself -- that it was Bundy's armed militia followers who created the danger that April day.

"Imagine a defendant assembling a group of armed followers to assault Metro officers conducting crowd control on the Strip on New Year's Eve, and then claiming, as a defense, that the assembled armed followers were only there to protect the crowd against the Metro officers using force against the crowd," Myhre wrote.

Such so-called "citizen avengers" aren't patriots, another court has determined.

They're often called vigilantes.

Although the government's burden is great, Myhre reminded the court that it also "is entitled to a fair trial."

That may be the only argument the prosecution has in common with the defense these days.

John L. Smith is a longtime Las Vegas journalist and author. Contact him at [email protected]. On Twitter: @jlnevadasmith.