Trump wants the election case frozen because he is appealing the immunity rule

Lawyers for former President Donald J. Trump asked a federal judge on Wednesday to stay proceedings in the case accusing him of overturning the 2020 election as they appeal her recent ruling that he is not immune for prosecution.

The request to freeze the case while the appeal progresses was part of a long-planned strategy to prevent a trial on the election interference charge from starting on schedule in March.

Trump’s legal team hopes that a lengthy appeal on the immunity issue, possibly to the Supreme Court, could lead to the trial being postponed until after the 2024 election. Beyond that, his lawyers hope to at least delay the trial until after the Republican Party held its nominating convention in Milwaukee in July.

The way the appeal of the judge’s ruling has become entangled in Trump’s political agenda is typical of the way he has handled all four criminal cases he faces as he makes his third bid for the White House. He and his aides have made no secret of their belief that re-election is the best chance to resolve the four charges against him.

While Mr. Trump has tried to delay all his cases, he has pursued the strategy most forcefully in the election case in the Federal District Court in Washington, if only because it will likely be the first to appear before a jury.

In a file of 11 pagesTodd Blanche, one of Mr. Trump’s lawyers, told Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, who is overseeing the case, that such a pause was “mandatory and automatic” now that Mr. Trump had formally signaled his intention to give her to challenge the ruling. to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Mr Blanche argued that Judge Chutkan no longer had control of the case and that jurisdiction over it had shifted to the Court of Appeal. The extended delay he requested would effectively bring the case to a halt and suspend all deadlines Judge Chutkan had already set for matters such as pretrial proceedings, disclosures about defense strategies and jury selection.

The appeal and the attempt to pause the case were prompted by a decision by Judge Chutkan late last week, which rejected Mr. Trump’s sweeping claims that he could not be prosecuted on the election interference charges because they were based on actions he took while in government. White House.

In a ruling laying out a narrow view of presidential power, Judge Chutkan said there was nothing in the law, the Constitution or American history to indicate that the holder of the nation’s highest office was not bound by federal law. criminal law.

“Defendant’s four years of service as commander-in-chief did not grant him the divine right of kings to escape the criminal liability that governs his fellow citizens,” she wrote.

Most motions to dismiss a charge cannot be challenged until the defendant has been convicted. But Trump was allowed to appeal Judge Chutkan’s decision on immunity because it hinged on the fundamental question of whether the charges should have been filed in the first place.

“The Constitution protects presidents as they work to ensure laws are enforced, especially when it comes to elections,” Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump’s campaign, said in a statement. “As made clear in our call today, President Trump has absolute immunity from prosecution and lawsuits for carrying out his sworn and solemn duties as President.”

Mr. Trump’s efforts to delay the election case will now depend on how quickly the appeals court decides to hear his challenge. The court’s next steps will include setting a schedule for filing written submissions and setting a time for oral arguments.

Prosecutors in the office of special counsel Jack Smith have made clear in court filings that they expected Trump to appeal the immunity issue even before Judge Chutkan ruled against him. To move things along, they could ask the appeals court to expedite the case — but even that could take several weeks.

If Mr. Trump loses his first attempt to challenge the immunity ruling before a three-judge panel of the appeals court, he could try again before the full court. His lawyers plan to pursue their appeal all the way to the Supreme Court if they can, hoping that even if they lose, their efforts will eat up time.

If Mr. Trump manages to delay the trial until after the election and wins the race, he can simply have his attorney general drop the charges. But even if he succeeds in merely delaying the trial until the summer, Judge Chutkan would still be in a difficult position.

She would then have to decide whether to continue the procedure in the middle of the campaign season. Such a move would undoubtedly provoke angry outbursts from Mr Trump, who would be required to be in court every day and not campaign.

Or she could stick to the political calendar and decide that putting a presidential candidate on trial with the election looming was too much of a stretch.