WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Wednesday announced the hearing schedule for the former president Donald Trump‘s presidential immunity claims raise significant doubts election interference case he will be tried before the 2024 election — a major victory for Trump in his effort to starve out the legal consequences of his efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss.
of the Supreme Court decision Hearing oral arguments on whether Trump is entitled to presidential immunity on April 22 left a startling prospect: the former president accused of conspiring to obstruct Congress and disenfranchise millions of Americans in an attempt to stay in the Oval Office after losing the election. Avoid prosecution before being given a chance to return to the White House.
By Tuesday, there was a chance that Trump would be tried in Washington indictment Returned in August 2023 – could go to trial in May with possible sentencing, potentially months before Election Day 2024.
Judge Tanya Chutkan originally set the trial date for March 4 and said she would give Trump’s team seven months to prepare for the trial. But that deadline was delayed in December when the case was frozen after a request by Trump’s team. Trump had 88 days left on this preparation schedule, which means the Supreme Court simply allowed it District court decision on immunity of the presidentthe case was scheduled to continue in Chutka’s courtroom in early May 2024.
The Supreme Court’s decision to hear arguments on April 22 immediately removed the possibility of Trump being tried before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in mid-July.
Former prosecutors for special counsel Jack Smith is estimated They need “no more than four to six weeks” to submit their claim potential jurors He received letters stating that the trial “may continue for approximately three months after jury selection is completed.”
The court could rule by the end of June, but that will depend in part on whether the nine justices are unanimous. When the court splits the cases, it usually takes longer for the judges to write separate dissents.
Even if the court rules in June, time is tight for the case to begin before Election Day.
“You’re talking about a period where you’re really fighting against the general election,” MSNBC legal analyst Andrew Weisman, who is on former special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, said on “Beat Ari Melber” on Wednesday. .
Weissman said he was “extremely concerned” by the Supreme Court’s decision that there would be no ruling in the case before the Jan. 6 general election, and that the new deadline was a “huge victory” for Trump.
Former U.S. Attorney General Neal Katyal said he, too, was concerned about the timeline, but that the Supreme Court could potentially speed things up.
“The Supreme Court holds most of the cards here,” Katyal said. “If they want this trial to happen, of course they can. They can hear the case on April 22, and then they can resolve the case very quickly and allow Judge Chutkan to start the trial.”
Hours before the Supreme Court announced the April 22 hearing, Chutkan was in his courtroom for Trump’s January 6 hearing against co-defendant Michael Foy. attacked On January 6, officers with a hockey stick and a sharp metal pole.
At Foy’s sentencing, his attorney discussed the role of general deterrence in determining Foy’s prison term, arguing that a sentence for a random rioter would not have much of a deterrent effect on the public when the presumptive Republican nominee was running. Spreading their lies about the 2020 elections.
“I’m not involved in that,” Chutkan said with a smile, drawing laughter from the courtroom.