Judge Chutkan indefinitely postponed the scheduled trial date of March 4
Chief Justice John Roberts has requested that the Justice Department (DOJ) respond to former President Donald Trump’s attempt to assert presidential immunity in his ongoing Jan. 6-related case in D.C.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit had just rejected President Trump’s attempt to overturn Judge Tanya Chutkan’s refusal to dismiss DOJ’s prosecution based on presidential immunity. Justice Roberts’ Feb. 13 request comes less than a week after the justices heard President Trump’s appeal a Colorado ruling that he was disqualified from appearing on the state’s ballot.
With a deadline of Feb. 20, the Court’s request points to a broader urgency for the judicial system to address relatively untested questions of law that could impact the 2024 presidential election.
President Trump criticized the appellate court in his Feb. 12 filing, arguing that it provided a tight timeline for asking the Supreme Court for relief before requiring Judge Chutkan to resume her pre-trial proceedings.
Judge Chutkan indefinitely postponed the scheduled trial date of March 4, which is looking increasingly unlikely amid the former president’s various appeals.
“[A] panel of the D.C. Circuit has, in an extraordinarily fast manner, issued a decision on President Trump’s claim of immunity and ordered the mandate returned to the district court to proceed with President Trump’s criminal trial in four business days, unless this Court intervenes (as it should),” President Trump’s application to stay the appellate court’s mandate read.
As President Trump’s brief noted, Special Counsel Jack Smith had requested the Supreme Court skip appellate proceedings and fast-track the issue, stating that “only” the Supreme Court could “definitively resolve” President Trump’s claims to immunity. The Supreme Court ultimately rejected Mr. Smith’s petition but is expected to eventually rule on the issue.
Presidential Immunity’s ‘Outer Perimeter’
President Trump is asking for the Supreme Court to halt the appellate decision because it incorrectly ruled that presidential immunity didn’t apply to Mr. Smith’s prosecution of him.
By Sam Dorman
