The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump's 2020 election indictment has dismissed Special Counsel Jack Smith's suit for contempt of office.
Even though Judge Tanya Chutkan earlier this month suspended further proceedings pending a challenge to presidential immunity, Trump's lawyers have not recommended that Smith's team face contempt charges filed in court. demanded.
“Accordingly, on its own terms, the material validity of the stay order does not specifically preclude the government from complying voluntarily, rather than mandatorily, with the deadlines of the currently suspended pretrial order.'' Ta.” Chutkan wrote in a six-page opinion..
After Mr. Chutkan issued a ruling in December that suspended “further proceedings that would move this matter to trial or impose additional litigation burdens on the defendants,” Mr. Trump's team announced that Mr. flagged three important notifications.
Despite denying Trump's bid to penalize Smith, Chutkan conceded a partial victory by clarifying his order to suspend Smith.
“Until the powers of attorney are returned in this case, the parties may not file substantive pretrial motions without first requesting an adjournment of the court, and any such request for adjournment shall be accompanied by a proposed It shall state whether the complaint relates to a matter related to the appeal or is incidental to the appeal,'' she ruled.
The Trump campaign quickly won over Chutkan's opinion.
“The District Court of Washington, D.C., has issued a cease and desist order in the J6 case, prohibiting deranged Jack Smith from harassing President Trump with additional charges,” Trump campaign spokesman Stephen Chan said in a statement. “I ordered them to respect the law,” he said.
At the root of the conflict between Mr. Trump and Mr. Smith over court documents is concern about the March 4 trial start date.
Mr. Smith unsuccessfully appealed to the Supreme Court for expedited review of President Trump's doctrine of presidential immunity, which seeks to quash the indictment currently pending in the D.C. Court of Appeals, but the high court rejected the request.
Prosecutors appear to want to keep the March 4 trial start date on schedule amid implicit concerns that a conviction will become more complicated as President Trump approaches the election.
Chutkan did not say whether he planned to change the start date of the trial, but seemed to hint very briefly that such an adjustment might be necessary.
“Contrary to defendant's assertions, the court in this case has not and will not establish a deadline based on the assumption that defendant made unnecessary preparations,” she wrote.
In other words, Mr. Chutkan suggested, Mr. Trump's legal team does not have to respond to “assume any significant burden” while the case is paused.
She also said that “if the power of attorney is returned, the court will set a new schedule.”
Several key litigation deadlines have already passed, and others appear to be in jeopardy. For example, a potential juror must fill out the form by February 9th, which means he has three weeks.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to four charges related to the 2020 election, as well as three others, and has denied any wrongdoing.
