Federal judge postpones Trump's March election interference trial

By Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The trial for former President Donald Trump's election interference, which was scheduled for March 4, was postponed Friday by US District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan amid ongoing appeals about the power of the presidency.

Chutkan did not set a new date after the decision she made to allow an appeals court to determine if the case should be dismissed based on Trump's claims of presidential immunity.

Chutkan previously indicated that she would need to push back the trial date to accommodate the time required for the appeal review.

In January, the team representing Trump raised concerns about the prosecutors' ongoing submission of court filings despite a pause in the case. Chutkan cautioned Special Counsel Jack Smith's team that it should not proceed without obtaining her permission.

Smith is prosecuting Trump for criminally interfering in the 2020 election while the former president’s legal team has been trying to get the election interference case thrown out on claims of presidential immunity.

Chutkan, rejected the claim, prompting an appeal from Trump's legal team.

Smith, however, asked the Supreme Court to quickly take up the matter to preserve the looming March 4 trial date in Washington.

Chutkan has temporarily frozen the start of the trial and all other deadlines, as appeals about presidential immunity play out. The judge has acknowledged that the pause could affect the start of the trial.

The Supreme Court asked Trump's legal team to explain last week why it believes the Court should not agree to take up the case ahead of a decision from the appellate court.

In a Wednesday filing, it said it should not be fast-tracked because of its unprecedented nature against a former president, claiming Trump's actions amounted to "official acts."

The top court apparently agreed and declined to take up the case, for now.

Smith, a career US attorney, was appointed special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022 to grant greater autonomy to prosecutors, and thereby push back on claims of political interference in the heated cases.

In the state of Florida, Smith's office is preparing for the start of a separate trial about Trump's retention of classified documents after he left office, and alleged efforts to conceal them from federal investigators as they sought to retrieve them.