Donald Trump’s camp aims to “freeze” Judge Tanya Chutkan’s efforts to hold his criminal trial before Election Day, a source said.
The former president’s lawyers may use his Mar-a-Lago case involving unclassified documents in Florida to raise new challenges in the two criminal cases he faces to create better campaign conditions, according to a report by 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 core goal of Trump’s legal team is to stop Judge Chutkan — the judge overseeing Trump’s election subversion case in Washington, D.C. — from launching the trial before the election, people familiar with his team’s legal strategy told the publication . The case could test Trump’s chances of a second term as president.
“That means freeze her,” one of the sources told CNN. “Making it impossible for her to thwart a pre-election process, over matters beyond her control.”
Chutkan’s election subversion case was initially scheduled to go to trial on March 4, but an appeal has postponed the case indefinitely.
One way to hinder Chutkan is to convince Florida Judge Aileen Cannon to reschedule Trump’s Mar-a-Lago document abuse trial from late May to the summer, CNN reports.
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump shouts at the podium during a campaign rally in Waterford Township, Michigan, on February 17, 2024
A core goal is to prevent Tanya Chutkan – the judge overseeing Trump’s election subversion case in Washington DC – from starting the trial before the election.
“The Special Counsel is urgently seeking 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 current President,” his legal team recently wrote to the Supreme Court.
By summer, the Mar-a-Lago case may require Cannon to subsequently delay the trial at several points due to legal complexities surrounding classified documents that have yet to be worked out, people familiar with the matter told the publication.
Despite both Cannon and Chutkan refusing to move the date of the respective trials they oversee after the November election, Cannon has made it clear she may consider pushing the date back to May 20.
“I have a cynical view of the trial date, which is to say that Judge Cannon tried to use it as a blocker, meaning it sat there and it was a day where she said she had to put restrictions on where other people could move around. said former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, who was part of special counsel Bob Mueller’s team.
Cannon has already been criticized for showing bias against Trump’s defense team and for pushing to prolong the case.
But Chutkan is an Obama-era appointee who has already spoken out against Trump’s presidential immunity claim.
“Whatever immunity a sitting president enjoys, the United States has only one president at a time, and that position does not entitle him to a lifetime get-out-of-jail pass,” Chutkan wrote in December. “Former presidents enjoy no special conditions regarding their federal criminal liability.”
Chutkan could have him tried on election day. “If that’s what she wants, we might as well make Trump president 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 be present.
Rioters loyal to President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021
One way to hinder Chutkan is to convince Florida Judge Aileen Cannon to reschedule Trump’s document abuse trial at Mar-a-Lago from late May to summer, according to a report.
It is expected to address scheduling issues, but other key 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 move the trial date to July, so Chutkan may not be able to schedule the Washington DC trial before November.
The special counsel and Chutkan have both said they believe Trump’s federal election case should be reviewed quickly by a jury.
“(Trump’s) personal interest in delaying the trial must be weighed against two powerful counterbalancing considerations: the administration’s interest in fully advancing its case without undue delay; and the compelling interest of the public in the expeditious resolution of the case,” the Justice Department recently wrote to the Supreme Court.
“The charges here relate to Applicant’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 U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in June 2014.
She donated thousands of dollars to Obama’s campaign, records show.