The long-delayed case that accuses disgraced former president Donald Trump of trying to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory is back Thursday before U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan.
Chutkan is holding the first hearing on the matter in nearly a year in D.C. federal court, following the Supreme Court’s July ruling that presidents have broad immunity from prosecution for their official acts.
Trump pleaded not guilty on Thursday, via his legal team, to the revised charges in his federal criminal election interference investigation, in the first hearing in the Washington DC case since the US supreme court gave its immunity ruling.
The high court sent Trump’s case back to Chutkan to decide what allegations and evidence might qualify for exceptions or may be prosecutable as private acts — such as actions that Trump allegedly took as a candidate, not as president.
The case concerns Trump’s actions following his defeat in the November 2020 re-election attempt against Democrat Joe Biden, leading up to the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
After the 2020 election loser proclaimed a host of lies about the voting process, most of which were laughed out of court around the nation, a mob consisting of thousands of fervent Trump-loving terrorists hoping to reverse the election outcome by violently preventing Congress from counting the Electoral College ballots.
Special counsel Jack Smith last week filed a revised indictment on the same four election-interference charges, stripping out evidence the Supreme Court deemed inadmissible and focusing on what Trump did in his capacity as a candidate.
Chutkan may decide to rule quickly on which parts of the case can proceed. Even if she does, however, litigation and appeals will continue long past the Nov. 5 election, in which Trump is again running for president as the Republican nominee, against Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump’s attorney John Lauro said this a “sensitive time” with the presidential election approaching, suggesting that the government’s proposed response to the Supreme Court’s immunity decision would be too fast and unfair to Trump.
Chutkan sternly responded that she is not taking the November election into account as she decides on how the case should proceed.
“This court is not concerned with the electoral schedule,” Chutkan said. “That’s not something I’m going to consider.”
Lauro then said that courts should not get involved with the electoral process.
“I am definitely not getting drawn into the electoral process,” Chutkan responded.
Lauro seemed unpersuaded: “This process is unfair, particularly during the sensitive time we are in.”
Chutkan had asked why Trump’s defense couldn’t work through its challenges while the immunity briefing is underway. “We can all walk and chew gum at the same time,” she said.
She also noted the consequences. On Trump’s schedule, at least, immunity challenges could extend into this time next year.
Assistant Special Counsel Thomas Windom said allowing sequential appeals of the indictment and evidence in the case could mean several rounds of litigation before the Supreme Court extending even longer.
Lauro stuck to his guns, saying Trump wants to begin by challenging the indictment as a “gateway issue,” arguing that any actions concerning Trump and Vice President Mike Pence should be deemed official and therefore immune conduct between a president and vice president.
“There are no special rules for the special counsel,” Lauro said, “and in particular, what it denies us is an opportunity to address some of the evidentiary issues for us to look at.”
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