The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity has sent the federal case accusing Donald Trump of attempting to overturn his 2020 election defeat back to Judge Tanya Chutkan for key decisions that will shape the prosecution’s future. Chutkan, a U.S. District Court judge in Washington, must decide whether Supreme Court rulings require some allegations against Trump to be dismissed. She will also determine the trial’s timing, which could impact whether evidence is heard before Trump’s election rematch with Joe Biden on November 5.
Previously, Chutkan promised to give Trump about 90 days to prepare for trial once the case returns to her court, with the trial expected to last six to eight weeks. Trump, convicted of falsifying business records in New York in May, faces two other criminal prosecutions in addition to the federal election subversion case, which many observers see as the only one with a slim chance of going to trial before the election.
Chutkan, a Jamaican-born judge nominated by former President Barack Obama, has been overseeing the Trump case since August 2023. Her work was stalled for over six months due to Trump’s bid for presidential immunity. With extensive experience as a public defender and a lawyer at Boies Schiller & Flexner, Chutkan has shown little patience for Trump’s delay tactics and attacks on the justice system.
In a previous hearing, Chutkan made it clear that Trump’s political campaign would not grant him special treatment. She gained attention for imposing harsher sentences than prosecutors sought for defendants involved in the January 6 Capitol attack, emphasizing the need for consequences beyond house arrest.
Trump’s lawyers unsuccessfully attempted to recuse Chutkan from the case due to her remarks about the Capitol attack, which is part of the indictment against Trump. Trump has labeled Chutkan as “VERY BIASED & UNFAIR” in social media posts.
This is not Chutkan’s first case involving Trump. In 2021, she rejected his lawsuit to block the House committee investigating the Capitol attack from accessing White House records, asserting that “Presidents are not kings, and plaintiff is not president.”
