The judge overseeing the federal criminal case against Donald Trump for attempting to subvert the 2020 presidential election indicated Thursday that the March 4 trial date is unlikely to hold.
In a six-page order, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan barred special counsel Jack Smith from filing substantive new motions while Trump is seeking to have the case thrown out on “presidential immunity” grounds.
The judge, an appointee of President Barack Obama, noted that she set the March trial date last August to allow Trump and his attorneys seven months to prepare.
But that clock was paused in December, after Trump appealed Chutkan’s determination that Trump was not immune from criminal prosecution. The appeal also meant that all of Chutkan’s previously established deadlines for pretrial filings were paused as well, freeing Trump from any legal steps he might need to or choose to take in advance of trial.
In Thursday’s order, Chutkan suggested that the time that has elapsed since his appeal would not be counted against him if the case gets back on track.