Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office has asked the Washington, D.C. judge presiding over the election interference case against former President Donald Trump for three more weeks to consider the impact of the Supreme Court’s landmark July ruling on presidential immunity.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan declined to dismiss the lawsuit on Saturday. Both the government and Trump’s defense attorneys are scheduled to attend a status conference on August 16.
But now federal prosecutors are asking Chutkan for more time. “The government has not finalized its position on the most appropriate timeline for the parties to present their views on issues related to the decision,” prosecutors wrote in a memo filed Thursday. Smith’s office said it needed more time to evaluate the new Supreme Court precedent, which includes “consultations with other Justice Department entities.”
Prosecutors asked the judge to delay the start of pretrial proceedings until August 30, saying Trump’s lawyers had no objections to the new schedule.
The immunity ruling is already having a major impact on the other cases against the former president. In Florida, Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case for misuse of classified documents after delaying a trial for months. Smith’s office immediately appealed the dismissal to the 11th District Court in Atlanta.
Trump celebrated the Supreme Court’s controversial ruling, claiming it granted him “FULL EXONERATION” in all cases brought against him.
However, New York Judge Juan Merchan has pushed forward Trump’s sentencing. After postponing the original July sentencing date, Merchan rescheduled the hearing for September 18.
Trump had previously been found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records for falsely reporting hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign.
