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Donald Trump’s federal election interference case is slowly coming back to life.
The case is now back in the hands of District Judge Tanya Chutkan, after it was frozen for months while the former president was fighting for “immunity” up to the Supreme Court.
The four criminal cases against the former president — spanning 88 charges in four jurisdictions — have been hung up in months of appeals and delays, creating a Russian nesting doll of courtroom battles, with court dates and side hearings on evidence, gag orders and defense arguments all designed to slow down the likelihood of another conviction before Election Day.
Trump got his victory at the Supreme Court, where the conservative majority affirmed that a president is “absolutely” immune from criminal prosecution for actions that stem from official duties in office.
Now, Judge Chutkan will be hearing from Trump’s attorneys and special counsel Jack Smith to determine how that ruling applies to the case in front of her.
Her work ends the eight-month pause in a case that asks whether Trump illegally conspired to overturn 2020 election results and then obstructed Congress by failing to stop a mob of his supporters who tried to do it by force.
The former president has been charged with four crimes, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights.
Within hours after the case returned to her courtroom, Judge Chutkan denied another Trump request to dismiss the charges against him. The next day, she rejected his other argument that the case involves “vindictive and selective prosecution.”
Her 16-page ruling said Trump has no evidence to support his argument and that he has repeatedly falsely characterized what the case is even about. The judge also said Trump has put up “no meaningful evidence” to justify a hearing to try to uncover more evidence to boost his argument,
Both sides are expected to lay out their proposed schedule for pretrial hearings this month, which could give the public the first look at how Trump and prosecutors plan to attack the case moving forward, with Election Day less than three months away.
Smith’s team has asked to delay filing a join status report until August 30, saying saying his office is continuing “to assess the new precedent” from the Supreme Court.
A status conference previously scheduled for August 16 has also been moved to September 5.
Trump’s lawyers were not opposed to further delays. Trump also is not required to attend that hearing.
The hearings will be in the middle of a busy month of courtroom action for the former president.
As he mulls whether to toss out Trump’s 34-count verdict under the Supreme Court’s “immunity” decision, New York Justice Juan Merchan is expected to issue a decision on Trump’s motion to recuse him from the case as early as August 11.
Last month, a Trump-appointed judge tossed out a separate case involving his possession of stacked boxes of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago compound. The special counsel’s brief urging an appeals court to reverse that decision is due by August 27.
New York Attorney General Letitia James also must file a response to Trump’s appeal of his massive civil fraud judgment by August 21. Trump must reply by August 30.
Next month, Trump’s appeals court arguments are due in his attempt to throw out a defamation verdict in the case from E Jean Carroll.
Judge Merchan is also expected to rule on Trump’s motion to toss his hush money verdict on September 16.
This story was first published on August 8 and has been updated with developments
