Judge Tanya Chutkan, the judge overseeing the case involving former President Trump and the bogus allegations against him regarding the 2020 election, surprisingly acknowledged her lack of jurisdiction in the case and put it on hold as the court awaits a decision by the Supreme Court to take up the case, according to a report from Fox News.
"Special Counsel Jack Smith on Monday asked the Supreme Court to rule on whether former President Trump can be prosecuted on charges relating to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results,” the report explains. "A federal judge ruled the case could go forward, but Trump said he would ask the federal appeals court in Washington to reverse that outcome. Smith is attempting to bypass the appeals court—the usual next step in the process—and have the Supreme Court take up the matter directly."
On Monday evening, the Supreme Court requested that Trump's legal team provide a response to the special counsel's motion by the following Wednesday, Dec. 20.
The move is a win for Trump, whose attorneys submitted a motion on Tuesday, urging Chutkan to temporarily halt the proceedings in the January 6 case while Trump's appeal is under consideration.
In her Wednesday filing, Chutkan said she "agrees with both parties that Defendant’s appeal automatically stays any further proceedings that would move this case towards trial or impose additional burdens of litigation on Defendant."
"Accordingly, and for clarity, the court hereby stays the deadlines and proceedings scheduled by its Pretrial Order, as amended,” she continued.
Chutkan added that if Trump "asks the court reviewing his immunity appeal to also take a temporary jurisdiction over the enforcement of those measures, and that court agrees to do so, this court of course will be bound by that decision."
The trial was set to begin March 4, but now that start date could be delayed. Chutkan said that she would reconsider the trial date at the completion of the appeals process.
Trump, in August, pleaded not guilty in federal court to all four federal charges stemming from Smith's investigation into 2020 election interference and the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights.
Trump’s legal team has previously tried to get Chutkan, who is an Obama appointee, to recuse herself from the case due to her blatant anti-Trump bias. She has a history of making partisan comments about the Capitol riot. In December 2021, during the sentencing of rioter Robert Palmer, Chutkan said, “He went to the Capitol because, despite election results which were clear-cut, despite the fact that multiple court challenges all over the country had rejected every single one of the challenges to the election, Mr. Palmer didn’t like the result. He didn’t like the result, and he didn’t want the transition of power to take place because his guy lost.”
In October 2022, Chutkan falsely described the Capitol riot as “nothing less than an attempt to violently overthrow the government, the legally, lawfully, peacefully elected government by individuals who were mad that their guy lost.”
The Supreme Court has set Jan. 5, 2024, as its next scheduled conference day to deliberate on such matters — although there’s no indication whether or not they will.
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