WASHINGTON – Exactly two months before the presidential election, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan plans to move forward with the case accusing former President Donald Trump of rigging the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. She told Trump’s lawyers she was “not concerned about the election plan.”
Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, did not appear at Thursday’s hearing in federal court in Washington, DC, but his lawyers entered a not guilty plea on his behalf to the four counts that remained unchanged in the up-to-date indictment filed last week by U.S. special counsel Jack Smith.
The case has been on hold for eight months while Trump appealed his claim of presidential immunity all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Chutkan’s expected up-to-date timeline for the case – which she could release as early as Thursday – is designed to ensure Trump is not put on trial before Election Day in November.
US prosecutors say they are ready to reopen the case in the coming weeks. Trump’s team, on the other hand, is arguing for more time to examine the evidence and drop the charges.
The Supreme Court has sent Trump’s case back to the trial court after Verdict that former presidents are immune from criminal prosecution while in office if they have committed official “core constitutional acts” and that they are entitled to at least presumptive immunity for activities in the “outer perimeter,” but not for personal acts.
This left Chutkan, an Obama administration appointee, with the primary task of analyzing Smith’s indictment and deciding which charges against Trump were official acts and which related to actions he took in his personal capacity.
Chutkan Skeptical
Chutkan did not announce a decision on immunity at Thursday’s hearing, but spent much of his time questioning Trump’s lawyer, John Lauro, about why he thought it was “improper” for Smith’s office to present its case in opening arguments this month. Thomas Windom, a federal prosecutor in Smith’s office, said the government would be ready to file the plea by the end of September.
Lauro argued that Smith’s attempt to file “at breakneck speed” is “incredibly unfair that they are able to get into the public record [evidence] at this sensitive time in our country’s history.”
“I understand that an election is coming up,” Chutkan replied sharply, reminding him that “that is not relevant here.”
“Three weeks is not exactly a breakneck pace,” Chutkan added.
Lauro argues that Chutkan should examine parts of the indictment that accuse Trump of pressuring then-Vice President Mike Pence to accept false electoral slates before Pence assumed the ceremonial role of certifying the election results on January 6, 2021.
“The problem with this matter is that if the communications are actually immune, the entire prosecution fails,” Lauro argued.
“I’m not sure I interpret the case that way,” Chutkan replied.
The government insists that all of Trump’s actions and communications described in the up-to-date indictment were of a “private nature,” Windom argued.
Chutkan also spent time during the roughly 75-minute hearing questioning Lauro about the Trump legal team’s numerous plans to seek dismissal of the case. One expected plan is to make its successful attempt in Florida, where a Trump-appointed federal judge thrown his case over classified documents after Trump argued that Smith was illegally appointed as special counsel.
Chutkan said she would allow the defense to file that motion, but cautioned that attorneys would have to make a compelling case as to why “binding precedent does not apply” to the time-tested office of special prosecutor.
New charges, same allegations
Trump is charged of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction and attempted obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy to violate the rights for his alleged role in conspiring to create false electors in seven states and spreading knowingly false information that incited his supporters to launch a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
A federal grand jury ruled revised indictment August 27 to adapt the charges to the Supreme Court immunity of July 1 VerdictThe up-to-date indictment lacked any reference to Trump’s alleged pressure campaign against Justice Department officials to interfere in the results of state elections.
However, the document highlights Trump’s personal apply of social media outside of his duties as president and alleges that he and several co-conspirators plotted outside of his official duties. The up-to-date indictment also highlights Trump’s pressure on Pence to accept the false electors in his non-executive role as president of the Senate.
If Trump wins the Oval Office in November, he would have the power to obstruct or completely stop the Justice Department’s investigation into election interference.
If he loses to Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris, the trial is sure to face further delays as Trump’s team plans numerous lawsuits and will almost certainly appeal Chutkan’s decisions on which charges against Trump are immune and which are not – probably again before the Supreme Court.
According to Friday joint submission As both sides outlined their plans for moving forward in the case, Trump’s team also warned that they would challenge the argument that Trump’s tweets and communications about the results of the 2020 presidential election should all be considered official acts.
In addition, Trump plans to file a motion to dismiss the case based on the Supreme Court’s June decision. Verdict that a rioter on January 6 could not be accused of obstructing an official proceeding – an accusation that is also being made against Trump.
