The federal choose overseeing former President Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference criminal case in Washington DC stayed additional trial court docket proceedings on Wednesday pending an appeal earlier than the US Courtroom of Appeals for the DC Circuit. The court docket’s choice comes simply two days after the US Supreme Courtroom agreed to take up the problem as federal prosecutors search to keep up the March 4, 2024 trial date.
Decide Tanya Chutkan agreed to remain the trial court docket proceedings whereas Trump appeals her earlier rejection of his declare of “absolute presidential immunity.” The difficulty is at present on enchantment earlier than the DC Circuit. The Supreme Courtroom agreed to listen to the exact same situation on Monday after Particular Prosecutor Jack Smith requested that the excessive court docket weigh in.
In her order to remain the case, Chutkan wrote, “[T]he court docket agrees with bothparties that [Trump’s] enchantment routinely stays any additional proceedings that may transfer this case in direction of trial or impose extra burdens of litigation.” Consequently, all deadlines and proceedings beforehand scheduled by the court docket are placed on maintain—doubtlessly jeopardizing the court docket’s March 4, 2024 trial date for the case.
The March 4, 2024 trial date has been on the middle of a lot of the authorized back-and-forth between Trump and federal prosecutors. Trump has repeatedly sought to delay trial, suggesting that the court docket delay court docket proceedings till after the 2024 election, through which he’s the present leading candidate for the Republican Occasion. In an August filing, Trump requested an April 2026 trial date to permit for “satisfactory time to defend himself.”
Smith has repeatedly pushed again in opposition to any effort to delay the trial, together with in his submitting to the US Supreme Courtroom. In Smith’s request that the Supreme Courtroom deal with Trump’s declare of immunity, as a substitute of ready for the conventional appellate course of to play out, he stated, “It’s of crucial public significance that [Trump’s] claims of immunity be resolved by this Courtroom and that respondent’s trial proceed as promptly as doable if his declare of immunity is rejected.”
Regardless of Chutkan’s choice to remain the trial court docket proceedings, sure trial court docket measures stay within the case. Included amongst these measures are the situations of Trump’s launch, protecting orders over discovery materials and the recently amended gag order on the previous president and his counsel.
Source / Picture: jurist.org
