Judge Tanya Chutkan, an appointee of the Obama administration, who presides over Jack Smith’s January 6 case against former President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., formally postponed the trial on Friday. Earlier reports had indicated that Smith’s case against Trump had been removed from the court calendar, with the March 4, 2024 trial date, initially set before Super Tuesday, being dropped within the past week.
In an official order on Friday, Judge Chutkan postponed the trial and instructed potential jurors, who had been asked to complete a pre-trial questionnaire, not to appear in court the following week. The postponement came as the DC Circuit Court of Appeals examines Trump’s claims of immunity.
Trump’s legal team argued that the former president is immune from federal prosecution for alleged crimes committed during his tenure as the U.S. President. They emphasized the historical absence of criminal prosecution against a sitting president for official acts and contended that the issue was a complex and momentous one for the court to decide.
Last month, John Sauer, an attorney for Trump based in Missouri, presented arguments on Trump’s immunity claims before a three-judge panel at the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. The panel, consisting of judges Florence Pan and Michelle Childs (both Biden appointees) and Karen Henderson (a George W. Bush appointee), expressed skepticism regarding Trump’s immunity claims during oral arguments. Notably, Judge Pan raised a hypothetical scenario, questioning whether a president could face criminal prosecution if ordering actions like the assassination of a political rival.
In the event that the DC Circuit Court of Appeals rules against Trump’s presidential immunity, it is anticipated that Trump’s legal team will seek an en banc hearing, involving the court’s entire slate of 11 judges. Given the limited number of conservative judges on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, Trump may eventually appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, in Florida, Judge Cannon, a Trump appointee overseeing Jack Smith’s case involving classified documents, has scheduled a March 1 hearing to receive a status update on the special counsel’s DC case. Cannon hinted at the possibility of postponing the May 20 trial date for the classified documents case if the special counsel fails to promptly resolve the immunity argument in the Trump case. The situation remains complex, with legal battles unfolding on multiple fronts and potential implications for the former president’s legal standing.
