Judge in Trump 2020 election case sides with special investigator regarding next steps after immunity ruling

Washington — The federal judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s case following the 2020 election set the timeline for the prosecution’s next steps following the Supreme Court’s ruling that Trump enjoys immunity for “official acts” he performed during his time in the White House.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued an order based largely on the schedule of special counsel Jack Smith, just hours after the two sides met in her courtroom earlier on Thursday. Trump is charged with four counts in connection with his alleged efforts to overturn the election results, including the conspiracy to defraud the United States

He again pleaded not guilty to the charges but declined to appear in court on Thursday.

Chutkan's order

With his order, the judge rejected the timetable presented by Trump's lawyers, which would have extended the pretrial proceedings into the spring or fall of 2025 – well beyond the presidential election in November.

Smith and his team had pushed for immunity discussions to take place alongside the motions and other issues the former president's legal team is expected to raise.

Chutkan ordered federal prosecutors to turn over all required evidence to Trump's team by Sept. 10, and gave Smith's team until Sept. 26 to file an opening brief outlining their arguments about the president's immunity. Smith's prosecutors said in court Thursday that the immunity motion will include new information not included in the indictment. Chutkan's order paves the way for that material to become public before the November election.

The judge set an October 17 deadline for Trump's team to respond to the special counsel's arguments and file its own motion to dismiss the charges on immunity grounds. The government then has until October 29 to file its response.

Chutkan wrote in her two-page order that after the briefs on the immunity issue were submitted, she would decide whether further proceedings were necessary.

The judge also said that a motion from Trump's team, which must be filed by September 19, must include “any specific evidence related to presidential immunity” that the former president believes prosecutors wrongly withheld.

The order also states that Trump has until October 24 to ask the court to allow him to file a motion to dismiss the case on the grounds that Smith's appointment and funding are unconstitutional. The special counsel and his team have until October 31 to appeal that motion.

Hearing on Thursday

The case comes months after the Supreme Court ruled that presidents enjoy absolute immunity from prosecution for official acts that fall within their “core constitutional powers.” Official acts that are official but outside their “exclusive authority” are immune. Private acts are not immune.

The Supreme Court I sent the suitcase back Chutkan for further proceedings. The judge held a hearing with Trump's lawyers and Smith's prosecutors on Thursday, where they discussed the passage of time and how the Supreme Court ruling applies to Trump's alleged conduct. Smith's team last week revised the indictment against Trump to comply with the Supreme Court's immunity ruling.

At the hearing, Chutkan and Trump's attorney John Lauro argued over whether some of the conduct contained in the new indictment – namely the former president's conversations with Vice President Mike Pence after the 2020 election – fell under presidential immunity.

Lauro argues that the case should be dropped despite the reduced charges because Trump's conversations with Pence were considered official acts and therefore could not be prosecuted.

But Chutkan said those conversations could be subject to immunity, the weaker form of protection that can be rebutted by federal prosecutors. Whether the interactions between Trump and Pence were outside the former president's official duties is something she will have to decide for herself, the judge said.

She also made it clear that the upcoming election would have no influence on the decision on how the process would proceed. Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, wants to defeat Vice President Kamala Harris in November to secure a second term in the White House.

“The electoral process … is not relevant here,” Chutkan told Lauro. “This court does not deal with the electoral plan.”

Repeated warnings from Trump’s lawyer about the “weighty” and “serious” questions in court earned him conviction by Chutkan.

“It seems to me that you are trying to influence the evidence in this case so as not to influence the election,” she said. “I am not considering that.”

The hearing and Chutkan's order reiterated that the case will not go to trial before the November election. Chutkan said any decisions she makes in applying the Supreme Court's immunity ruling can be appealed, which will cause further disruption to the proceedings.

Discussing a final trial date would be a “futile endeavor,” she said.