Fears grow a key Trump legal fight could be delayed

Former President Donald Trump’s criminal prosecution over his alleged illegal efforts to overturn the 2020 election could be delayed until after November, legal officials say, adding to efforts to return him to the Oval Office. There are growing concerns that it may help people to do more.

President Trump’s delay tactics are a well-worn strategy by the former president and his legal team to sway the situation in his favor. And now, as an appeals court considers whether presidential immunity protects him from prosecution, President Trump’s goal of facing voters before facing a federal jury remains pending in a trial in Washington. The possibility of this becoming a reality is increasing after a judge issues a complete halt to the proceedings.

“We have officially entered the extraordinary stage,” said Neil Katyal, the Obama-era acting US attorney general. he told MSNBC on Sunday..

A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to expedite the case, instructing lawyers to file written briefs on the Saturday before Christmas and New Year’s. Expectations were high that the case would be handed down quickly.

But four weeks after oral arguments, the panel still has not made a decision.

Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered a complete halt to proceedings, indefinitely postponing Trump’s trial scheduled for March 4.

This only strengthens President Trump’s strategy to avoid prosecution before a conviction, running out the clock and potentially exonerating himself from federal charges if he wins the White House again.

The impasse, anti-Trump legal experts warn, has turned into a full-fledged vicious cycle, with the only thing left to do is help Republican candidates who could vote evenly with President Biden.

Norm Eisen, a Democratic adviser on Trump’s first impeachment, said the lack of a verdict was a “temporary victory” for the former president.

“We’ve been waiting. The clock is ticking. We’ve been waiting almost four weeks,” Eisen told CNN over the weekend.

“I think we can get something from them. I hope we get something from them soon,” he added.

Recent polls tip the scales a bit in terms of how voters feel about voting for Trump if he is convicted by Election Day.

a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult Poll A poll last week found that more than half of voters in battleground states, including 23%, or about a quarter of Republicans, said they would not vote for Trump if he was convicted. found. If Trump is sentenced to prison, that number would rise to 55%. A CNN poll this week found that most voters want election interference cases prosecuted before the November vote.

Trump was indicted in August on four counts of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election and inciting his supporters to prevent Congress from certifying the results on January 6, 2021. This is one of four charges filed against him. Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

As part of his pretrial defense in the Jan. 6 incident, Trump argued that he had immunity for official actions taken while president. Mr. Chutkan, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, rejected that argument and took the new constitutional issue to a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit.

During more than an hour of oral arguments last month, in which Trump was present, the committee appeared unconvinced by Trump’s lawyers’ argument that the president cannot be prosecuted unless he is impeached and convicted by Congress. .

But the three justices, one appointed by former President George H.W. It remains a mystery.

The court has remained silent since then. The nature of internal deliberations and the reasons behind suspensions remain unclear, as there are no formal rules forcing judges to lift sentences early.

“At what point will the Chief Judge of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals talk to Judge Henderson to politely tell SNAPADOODLE in the Trump immunity decision? I think about a week ago!” Special Counsel Robert Mueller on Russia Andrew Wiseman, the prosecutor in charge of the investigation, said: I wrote to Xthe platform formerly known as Twitter.

Decisions in the coming days will still be quick compared to normal operations at the D.C. circuit. In cases that are not expedited, the process typically takes several months to move forward.

Special Counsel Jack Smith seeks to avoid timing complications at the D.C. Circuit by asking the Supreme Court to jump through the red tape and take up the immunity issue immediately to get his election overturn case back on track. did.

But the judges rejected that request, leaving Mr. Smith potentially in a race against time for the future of his prosecution.

In any case, the immunity issue is widely expected to end up before the Supreme Court. But before that happens, the losing side of the three-judge D.C. Circuit panel could waste additional time by asking the entire appellate court to review the decision.

Even if the case ultimately moves forward after the appeals process has been exhausted, Mr. Trump’s trial will still not be immediate, and the judges will still need to consider a series of pretrial motions, which could take weeks or weeks. It could take a month.

And what if the case goes to trial? Smith previously predicted it would take four to six weeks for the government’s case to be presented.

Overall, the likelihood of a verdict is moving closer to or after the Nov. 5 presidential election.

“I have no idea what the Court of Appeals is doing right now,” Katiyal told MSNBC.

“This is a real problem,” he added.