A federal judge called Thursday for prosecutors and defense attorneys to file significant legal briefs in Donald Trump’s 2020 election subversion case before voters head to the ballot box in November, rejecting the former president’s request to move at a slower pace.
Her scheduling order offers the first glimpse into how the case will proceed after the Supreme Court ruled that presidents cannot be prosecuted for their official conduct, upending the Trump prosecution and forcing the special counsel to seek a superseding indictment.
Chutkan’s decision gives the government an opportunity to lay out new evidence against Trump, though how much, if at all, they will choose to reveal in the run-up to the election remains to be seen.
In court, Trump defense attorney John Lauro had sparred with Chutkan over the schedule, arguing that the next two months is a “very sensitive time” before Republican nominee Trump faces the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, at the polls.
“It strikes me that what you’re trying to do is affect the presentation of evidence in this case in a way so as not to impinge on the election of the president,” Chutkan told Lauro, after the Trump lawyer objected to an order that would let prosecutors make their case first. “This court is not concerned with the electoral schedule.”
