Donald Trump’s camp intends to “freeze” Judge Tanya Chutkan’s attempts to hold her criminal trial before Election Day, a source said.
The former president’s lawyers may use his unclassified Mar-a-Lago documents case in Florida to raise new challenges in the two criminal cases he faces to create better campaign conditions, according to a report from cnn.
Trump and his lawyers have been clear about their efforts to prevent him from being tried in federal court before the November election.
A central goal of Trump’s legal team is to block Judge Chutkan, the judge overseeing Trump’s election subversion case in Washington, D.C., from starting the trial before the election, people familiar with Trump’s legal strategy told the publication. his team. The case could pose a challenge to Trump’s chances of serving a second term as president.
“That is, put ice on it,” one of the sources told CNN. “Making it impossible for her to impede a trial before the election, for things that are out of her control.”
Chutkan initially set the electoral subversion trial to begin on March 4, but appeals have meant it has been delayed indefinitely.
One way to stymie Chutkan is to convince Aileen Cannon, the Florida judge, to reschedule Trump’s mishandling of documents trial at Mar-a-Lago from late May to the summer, CNN reports.
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump shouts on stage at a campaign rally in Waterford Township, Michigan, on February 17, 2024.
A primary goal is to prevent Tanya Chutkan, the judge overseeing Trump’s election subversion case in Washington, D.C., from starting the trial before the election.
“The special counsel urgently seeks to force President Trump into a months-long criminal trial at the height of the campaign season, effectively sidelining him and preventing him from campaigning against the incumbent president,” his legal team recently wrote to the Supreme Court. .
Heading into the summer, the Mar-a-Lago case may require Cannon to delay the trial at different points because of legal complexities surrounding classified documents that have not yet been resolved, people familiar with the case told the publication.
Although both Cannon and Chutkan have declined to reschedule the dates of the respective trials they are overseeing after the November election, Cannon has made clear that he could consider pushing back the May 20 date.
“I have a cynical opinion about the trial date, and I think Judge Cannon was trying to use her as a blocker, meaning that she was there and it was a day that she had said to put restrictions on where others could move.” people.’ said former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, who was part of special counsel Bob Mueller’s team.
Cannon has already been criticized for expressing bias toward Trump’s defense team and for making an effort to drag out the case.
But Chutkan is an Obama-era appointee who already ruled against Trump’s claim of presidential immunity.
“Whatever immunities a sitting president may enjoy, the United States has only one chief executive at a time, and that position does not confer a lifetime get-out-of-jail-free pass,” Chutkan wrote in December. “Former presidents do not enjoy special conditions in their federal criminal responsibility.”
Chutkan could take him to trial on election day. “If she wants to do that, we might as well make Trump president right now,” a source told CNN.
Trump, his lawyers and co-defendants will appear before Cannon at a hearing on Friday. Special prosecutor Jack Smith and his team of prosecutors will also attend.
Rioters loyal to President Donald Trump at the US Capitol in Washington, January 6, 2021
One way to stymie Chutkan is to convince Aileen Cannon, the Florida judge, to reschedule Trump’s mishandling of documents trial at Mar-a-Lago from late May to the summer, according to a report.
It is expected to cover scheduling issues, but other major tensions in the case could be discussed, CNN reports.
Sources familiar with the former president’s legal strategy told the publication that his team is considering asking Cannon to delay the trial date until July, so that Chutkan cannot schedule the trial in Washington, D.C. before November.
The special counsel and Chutkan have said they believe Trump’s federal election case should be heard quickly by a jury.
‘[Trump’s] The personal interest in postponing judicial proceedings must be balanced against two powerful countervailing considerations: the government’s interest in fully presenting its case without undue delay; and the public’s compelling interest in a prompt resolution of the case,” the Justice Department recently wrote to the Supreme Court.
“The charges here involve the petitioner’s alleged efforts to disenfranchise tens of millions of voters,” the special counsel’s office added.
“The national interest in resolving these charges without further delay is compelling.”
Chutkan was appointed to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in June 2014.
She donated thousands of dollars to Obama’s campaign, records show.