The federal judge overseeing Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 case against former President Donald Trump has scheduled a conference on August 16 to determine the next steps in the case. This comes after the Supreme Court ruled on the scope of Trump’s claim of presidential immunity from prosecution.
The Supreme Court’s ruling, issued last month, stated that a president is immune from prosecution for official acts while in office, but not for unofficial ones. The case was remanded back to the lower court for trial.
Prosecutors and Trump’s defense attorneys will now confer in two weeks to establish a schedule for pretrial proceedings and discuss how the Supreme Court’s ruling applies to this specific case.
Judge Tanya Chutkan denied a defense motion to dismiss the charges against Trump. However, she granted the Republican candidate’s legal team the opportunity to refile the motion once all immunity-related issues have been resolved.
“By August 9, 2024, the parties shall confer and file a status report that proposes, jointly to the extent possible, a schedule for pretrial proceedings moving forward. If necessary, the parties may explain any disagreements in separate sections of the report,” Chutkan’s order states.
Open court hearings are expected, after which the judge will determine the extent to which the Special Counsel’s evidence can be used in the trial.
The Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. United States addressed the issue of former presidents’ immunity from prosecution. While the court determined that substantial immunity exists for official acts, it did not specifically apply the ruling to Trump’s actions related to attempts to overturn the 2020 election results.
The ruling came shortly after a New York jury found Trump guilty on all counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation.
Special Counsel Jack Smith has indicted the former president on four felony counts: 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. These charges arose from Smith’s investigation into Trump’s potential involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and any alleged interference with the 2020 election result.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges last summer. It is unlikely the case will go to trial before Election Day on Nov. 5.
