The judge overseeing the former president’s election trial postponed it Friday.
The trial date in the election interference case against former President Donald Trump was postponed, the federal judge overseeing the case confirmed on Friday.
“The court will set a new schedule if and when the mandate is returned,” U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan wrote in the order, handing a victory to the former president as he appeals the case on arguments that he was immune from prosecution.
More than 50 days have passed since Judge Chutkan paused the case amid the former president’s appeal to the D.C. Court of Appeals. Over the past several weeks, she has signaled that the initial March 4 trial date would not hold.
The judge on Friday also wrote that prospective jurors who were asked to appear in court in the coming days won’t have to fill out a written questionnaire.
Special prosecutor Jack Smith tried to block the delay by asking the U.S. Supreme Court to quickly issue a decision on whether President Trump is protected by presidential immunity in the election case. But the high court rejected the special counsel’s request, sending the case back to the D.C. Court of Appeals.
It’s not clear when the D.C. appeals court will render its decision, while legal analysts have previously said that the case might very well be pushed back until after the November election. A three-judge panel for the court heard oral arguments over the immunity case in early January.
His lawyers, in their appeal to the D.C. court, have said that the former president is immune from prosecution because the activity after the 2020 election was carried out in his official capacity as president. Depending on the outcome of that appeal, President Trump may appeal that case ultimately to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The lawyers also asserted that he shouldn’t face criminal charges because he wasn’t convicted in the Senate during his second impeachment trial over his activity after the 2020 election and for the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
