- The case is important to both sides, as a ruling in Trump’s favor could derail the case and a lengthy appeal could delay the trial beyond the currently scheduled March 4 deadline.
- Special counsel Jack Smith, who brought two federal cases against Trump in Washington and Florida, tried to oversee both as Trump tried to delay the proceedings — at one point asking for Washington.
- The Trump team made clear its opposition to that request, announcing the case gives “novel, complex and emotional questions of profound significance.”
Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference case in Washington will be put on hold while the former president continues his claims that he is not immune, the judge overseeing the case ruled Wednesday.
If the case returns to his court, the judge said, “At that time I will consider whether to retain or proceed to more future deadlines and dates of proceedings, including a hearing scheduled for March 4, 2024.”
Novel, complex and emotional questions of profound importance.”
Earlier Wednesday, Trump’s lawyers told a federal appeals court that they should not rush a review of whether the former president is immune from prosecution because federal prosecutors accused him of trying to rush his 2020 election sabotage case before next year’s presidential election.
“The prosecution has one aim in this case: to illegally attempt, convict and convict President Trump earlier than a selection in which he can defeat President Biden,” protection lawyers wrote Wednesday.
The case is important to both sides, as a ruling in Trump’s favor could derail the case and a lengthy appeal could delay the trial beyond the currently scheduled March 4 deadline. In the election, after he lost to Democrat Joe Biden, he denied any wrongdoing.
Special counsel Jack Smith, who brought two federal cases against Trump in Washington and Florida, tried to oversee both as Trump tried to delay the proceedings — at one point asking for Washington to push back on the case 2026.
There was a separate setback in the prosecution when the Supreme Court on Wednesday said it would review obstruction of official action charges brought by the Justice Department against more than 300 participants in the January 6, 2021, riots at the US Capitol. It was one of four lawsuits Smith brought against Trump, meaning the Supreme Court ruled in favor of defendants in the riots.
A post-election delay would clearly benefit Trump, especially since if elected president he would have the power to order the Justice Department to dismiss federal cases.
In a Washington-based federal appeals court that said there was no reason to fast-track the immunity question, Trump’s lawyers wrote that “the March 4, 2024 date has no talismanic significance.”
There is no compelling reason to preserve the date, other than the attorney’s illegitimate impartiality, especially given President Trump’s fee and the majority’s overwhelming interest in ensuring that these matters of extraordinary constitutional importance are properly decided thoroughly and thoughtfully. All relevant authorities and arguments,” they wrote.
The Trump team’s appeal, filed last week, rejected a trial judge’s arguments that he was protected from prosecution for actions he took as president. Smith tried to interrupt that process on Monday by asking the Supreme Court to take over its current ruling, a request he conceded was “extraordinary” but necessary for him to move the case forward.
Smith’s group simultaneously asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to fast consider Trump’s appeal: “The general public has a strong hobby in seeing this example visit trial in a timely process. However, the trial cannot proceed before the disposal of the respondent’s interlocutory appeal.
The Trump team made clear its opposition to that request, announcing the case gives “novel, complex and emotional questions of profound significance.”
“Whether or not the President of the United States should be criminally prosecuted for his actual actions goes to the very heart of our divided powers one of all the biggest questions ever determined by using this court,” they wrote. “There is a clear public interest in the Court’s careful and deliberate consideration of these important issues with great care and diligence.”
Additionally, the attorneys wrote, keeping the current schedule intact would require attorneys and support staff to work through the night on holidays, which would inevitably disrupt family and travel plans.
The Supreme Court has ordered Trump’s lawyers to respond by December 20 and has indicated that it will soon decide whether to hear the case. The court’s summary order does not indicate what it will ultimately do.
Trump faces four crook expenses in four exceptional cities.He has been charged in Florida with illegally keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate and faces a federal lawsuit in Georgia accused of trying to sabotage that state’s 2020 presidential election. Communication regarding payment to a porn actress.
