Federal Judge’s Order Signals Delay Likely in Trump’s Upcoming Trial

(L) Special counsel Jack Smith. (C) U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan. (R) Former President Donald Trump. Drew Angerer/Getty Images; Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts via AP; Brandon Bell/Getty Images

The federal judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s looming Jan. 6-related trial may have signaled that his case will be delayed after she scheduled a different case just a few weeks after the trial is slated to start, according to two former prosecutors.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, based in Washington, on Wednesday scheduled an alleged Jan. 6, 2021, defendant, Anthony Mastanduno, to start on April 2. That’s only about three and a half weeks after she initially set the former president’s trial date for March 4.

All progress in the case against President Trump was halted by the judge on Dec. 13, 2023, as the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals hears whether the former president is immune from prosecution in the case. Earlier this month, Judge Chutkan hinted that his trial date might be pushed back, which served as a blow to special counsel Jack Smith, who brought the charges against the former president.

Prosecutors under the special counsel have previously indicated that it could take four to six weeks to complete a trial for President Trump, meaning that the Mastanduno trial would very likely push up against the former president’s trial.

In a separate order issued about a week ago, she clarified that the March 4 trial date, which was set in August of last year, was designed to give both President Trump’s team and the special counsel’s team more time to prepare. The court adopted President Trump’s lawyers’ recommendation to prevent the parties from filing “any further substantive pretrial motions without first seeking leave from the court,“ meaning the case cannot proceed, and that the defendant also ”forfeits no arguments or rights by choosing not to respond at this time.”

“Diligent defense counsel will need to conduct a preliminary review of each substantive motion the government files in order to know whether they need to take further action,” the district judge also wrote. “While that is not a major burden, it is a cognizable one.”

The judge has not indicated specifically whether she will postpone the trial date or when she might render her decision. But if the case returns to the D.C. district court, Judge Chutkan wrote that she will again consider whether to adjust any dates for future deadlines and other proceedings, including the “trial scheduled for March 4, 2024.”

Earlier this month, a panel of judges on the D.C. Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on whether the former president is immune but hasn’t yet issued a decision on the matter. Even if they reject President Trump’s claims, he can still appeal it to the entire circuit court and later, the U.S. Supreme Court.

At the same time, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed this term to hear a case of a Jan. 6 defendant who was charged with obstruction of an official proceeding in connection to the U.S. Capitol breach. In President Trump’s federal Jan. 6 case, he also faces two charges under that obstruction statute.

It means that if the Supreme Court agrees with the Jan. 6 defendant, those charges likely will be thrown out for President Trump, too. However, he would still face two other counts that were brought by Mr. Smith in Washington.

Meanwhile, Judge Chutkan also wrote earlier this month that the former president could issue more objections to any recent filings by the special counsel, should the appeals court send the case back while she sets a new schedule.

In that order, she separately denied the former president’s request to hold Mr. Smith in contempt for continuing to file notices and motions with the court, despite the earlier pause in the case. She stated that the prosecution was not acting in “bad faith.” The Trump legal team had argued that Mr. Smith’s filings were a distraction from their appeal on presidential immunity grounds.

Unlikely to Start March 4

Michael McAuliffe, a former federal prosecutor, told Newsweek in a recent article that it’s probable President Trump’s trial will not start on March 4 because, according to him, the judge “likely doesn’t see any reasonable chance that the Trump criminal case moves forward to trial in March or April of this year.” He noted that it’s not clear when the court of appeals will decide.

“Assuming immunity is rejected by any and all courts, a trial in the summer of 2024 for the January 6 case is the most likely scenario,” he said.

And Neama Rahmani, the head of West Coast Trial Lawyers and also a former federal prosecutor, echoed those claims, telling the same outlet that the trial date for March 4 is highly unlikely.

As the appeals process plays out, she said, there is a chance that President Trump’s Jan. 6 trial won’t happen before the November 2024 election.

“That process will take months, and unless Judge Chutkan lifts the stay, there is a possibility that Trump’s trial does not happen before the November election. The other trial scheduled in April is a reflection of that reality,” she told Newsweek.