WASHINGTON — The federal judge overseeing the election interference case against former President Donald Trump on Saturday rejected a defense motion to dismiss an indictment based on claims that Trump was charged with revenge and political motives.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s ruling marks her first substantive order since the case was returned to her hands on Friday following a landmark Supreme Court decision last month that granted broad immunity to former presidents and narrowed the scope of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s case against Trump.
In a motion to dismiss the indictment, the defense argued that Trump was prejudiced because he was indicted while others who challenged the election results avoided criminal charges.
Trump, a Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election, also suggested President Joe Biden and the Justice Department launched the prosecution to block his reelection.
But Chutkan denied both allegations, saying Trump was not simply charged with contesting the election results, but with “knowingly making false statements in furtherance of a criminal conspiracy and obstructing the election certification process.”
She also said the defense lawyers misread news media articles they cited in arguing the prosecutors’ actions were political in nature.
“After considering the defendants’ evidence and arguments, the court cannot conclude that the defendants have met their burden of proving actual or presumption of vendetta and therefore there is no basis for dismissing this action on those grounds,” Judge Chutkan wrote in his order.
He also scheduled a status update meeting for Aug. 16 to discuss future steps in the case, he said Saturday.
The four-count indictment, filed in August 2023, charges that Trump conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to Biden, through a variety of schemes, including pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to block the formal certification of the electoral votes.
Trump’s legal team has argued that he is immune from prosecution because he is a former president, and the case has been on hold since December while the courts hear his appeal.
In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the president enjoys absolute immunity with respect to core constitutional duties and is presumed immune from prosecution for all other official duties.
The judges sent the case back to Chutkan to determine which of the acts outlined in the indictment should remain part of the prosecution and which should be thrown out.
