Judge Tanya Chutkan, an Obama appointee who is overseeing Jack Smith’s case against Trump on Jan. 6 in Washington, formally postponed the trial on Friday.
On Thursday it was reported that Jack Smith’s DC case against Trump had been removed from the court calendar. The March 4, 2024, trial date, scheduled before Super Tuesday, was dropped from the calendar in the last week.
Judge Chutkan, in an order Friday, postponed the trial and told potential jurors who had been asked to fill out a pretrial questionnaire not to appear in court next week.
JUST IN: Judge Chutkan in Trump’s DC elections case enters order officially vacating the jury’s written questionnaire process and vacating the court’s preliminary order, saying he will set a new schedule “if and when the warrant is returned” . pic.twitter.com/O0t1FoLJzu
— Katie Phang (@KatiePhang) February 2, 2024
Chutkan was forced to postpone the March 4 trial as the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals considers Trump’s immunity claims.
Trump’s lawyers have argued that Trump is immune from federal prosecution for alleged “crimes” committed while he was president of the United States.
“In 234 years of American history, no president has ever been criminally prosecuted for his official acts. Until 19 days ago, no court had ever questioned whether immunity from such prosecution existed,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in filings last month, according to CBS News. “To date, no appeals court has dealt with this. The question ranks among the most complex, intricate and of great importance that this Court will be called upon to decide.”
Last month, John Sauer, a Missouri-based Trump lawyer, appeared before a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to argue Trump’s immunity claims in Jack Smith’s D.C. case.
The three-judge panel hearing oral arguments on immunity claims: Florence Pan (Biden appointee), Michelle Childs (Biden appointee), and Karen Henderson (George W. Bush appointee).
On January 9, a three-judge panel heard oral arguments and appeared skeptical of Trump’s immunity claims: One judge, appointed by Biden, asked attorney John Sauer whether Trump would be prosecuted if he ordered the SEAL Team 6 to assassinate his political rivals.
“Would a president who ordered SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a political rival, and was not impeached, be subject to criminal prosecution?” Justice Florence Pan, a Biden appointee, asked John Sauer.
John Sauer, former Missouri Attorney General and friend of The Gateway Expertresponded, “If he had been impeached and convicted earlier… my answer is yes, there is a political process that would have to occur within the framework of our Constitution that would require impeachment and conviction by the Senate in these exceptional cases…”
If the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rules that Trump does not have presidential immunity, Trump will likely ask for an en banc hearing (a request for the court’s entire slate of 11 judges to make a decision).
Of the 11 judges on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, only four are conservatives, so Trump will likely have to take the immunity fight to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Meanwhile in Florida….
Judge Cannon, the Trump appointee who is overseeing the Jack Smith classified documents case in Florida, will hold a hearing on March 1 to get an update on the status of the special prosecutor’s DC case.
Cannon suggested that the May 20 trial date in the classified documents case will be postponed if the special prosecutor fails to resolve the issue of Trump’s immunity in a timely manner.
Stay tuned!