Judge in Donald Trump’s January 6 trial issues major warning about the election and feuds with ex-president’s lawyers over Mike Pence

Lawyers for Donald Trump argued in court on Thursday that a ruling that Trump’s communications with former Vice President Mike Pence around January 6 should be immune would “destroy” the new charges against him.

They told a federal judge that conversations between Trump and Pence about the vice president’s role could undermine the government’s entire case against the former president, with the November election once again playing a major role in deciding the timing of this high-profile case.

“If the communications with Vice President Pence — which are all over this indictment … if they are indeed immune, then the entire indictment is false,” Trump’s attorney John Lauro told Judge Tanya Chutkan during a hearing Thursday.

“If your commendation states that this is immune, then the whole charge collapses,” he said.

In a case that once looked like Trump would go to trial over January 6 while he was still in the running for the White House, Trump’s team wants to be the first to issue a brief to drop the new charges against him.

Special prosecutor Jack Smith received a new, superseding indictment from a grand jury last week after a Supreme Court ruling on the immunity issue threw a spanner in the works.

Prosecutors want to keep the case moving — they file their own brief in about three weeks and get a chance to share more of the evidence they’ve obtained. As they did when the case first came to trial a year ago, government prosecutors want a schedule that keeps the case moving.

Judge Chutkan became annoyed when Lauro brought up the information that would be made public.at a very sensitive moment in the history of our country.’

She took that as if Lauro was invoking the elections and asking her to delay the procedures. She went back on her earlier statements that she was not guided by the political calendar.

“I understand that there is an election coming up. I have said before and I will say again that the election process and the timing of the election … are not relevant here,” she admonished him.

“It seems to me that you are trying to influence the presentation of this case so that there is no electoral incident,” she told Lauro.

Chutkan said setting a date for the trial at this point would be a “pointless exercise” and would effectively end the possibility of a trial before Americans go to the polls.

Lauro calls Mike Pence’s communication — in which Trump told his vice president he had the authority to not accept votes for Joe Biden that had been certified by the states — a “gateway issue” and wants Chutkan to rule on it before he addresses other evidence prosecutors have gathered.

“If you decide this issue, then all this briefing will never happen,” he said.

District Attorney Thomas Windom argued that the judge had to choose the “most efficient and practical path forward,” arguing that even if the Pence material were to disappear, it would not blow up the case. “It is not an automatic dismissal of the charges,” he said.

Chutkan also decided that Lauro would file a motion arguing that Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional.

Trump’s lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove attended the trial but did not speak

But she expressed skepticism, noting that the ruling was based on a dissent by Chief Justice Clarence Thomas and a ruling by “another judge” in Florida on the same issue in the secret documents case.

She asked why that would be a justification “to go against the binding precedent of the DC Circuit” and said she did not find the argument particularly “persuasive.”

Chutkan presided over the January 6 trial and wanted to move the case along quickly, until Trump’s team disrupted the schedule by going to the Supreme Court with their claim of presidential immunity from prosecution.

The Supreme Court’s July ruling held that it was up to lower courts to determine which acts constitute “official” acts and enjoy absolute immunity.

At one point, the judge said the Trump team’s proposed timeline could drag the case out into next year, noting that it had been on her calendar for a year. She expressed interest in addressing several challenges that Trump’s lawyers want to bring forward simultaneously.

“We can all walk and chew gum at the same time,” Chutkan said.

Smith rewrote a superseding indictment that jettisoned a key part of the story: Trump’s alleged use of top Justice Department officials to interfere with the state’s vote count. But he retained the four core charges that Trump interfered in the 2020 election in an attempt to stay in office.

The lawyers still have to argue whether the new version complies with the Supreme Court’s directive.

Defense attorneys are preparing more motions to dismiss the case altogether, arguing, among other things, that Trump could be the victim of a “selective vengeful prosecution.”

Among the complaints Trump’s team said it would file is the claim that Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional. That argument held up to Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon, who is overseeing the secret documents case in Florida. She dismissed the case, though Smith’s team has appealed and an outside watchdog group is seeking to remove her from the case.

Trump, who did not appear in court, is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding when Congress was in session to count the electoral votes for president, and conspiracy to impede the right of citizens to have their votes counted.

His lawyer pleaded not guilty in court.

The new indictment states: “Despite losing, the defendant, who was also the sitting president, was determined to remain in power.”

It presented the conduct as personal, saying he “attempted to enlist the Vice President to assist in a scheme to use his role as President of the Senate to fraudulently alter the election results. Defendant had no official responsibilities with respect to the certification process, but he did have a personal interest as a candidate in being declared the winner of the election.”