Tag Archive for: tanya chutkan

Jack Smith Files Superseding Indictment Against Trump In 2020 Election Case

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A grand jury returned a superseding indictment Tuesday in former President Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference case.

The new indictment, which includes the same four charges as the original, was filed in response to the Supreme Court’s July ruling finding presidents have immunity from prosecution for official acts taken in office, according to prosecutors. Trimmed down from 45 pages to 36, the updated indictment omits allegations related to Trump’s “attempt to leverage the Justice Department” and updates language in some sections to emphasize he was acting outside his official duties.

“The superseding indictment, which was presented to a new grand jury that had not previously heard evidence in this case, reflects the Government’s efforts to respect and implement the Supreme Court’s holdings and remand instructions in Trump v. United States,” special counsel Jack Smith wrote in a notice.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the Supreme Court’s decision that Trump is “absolutely immune from prosecution for the alleged conduct involving his discussions with Justice Department officials,” though he noted other allegations “present more difficult questions.”

One new line added in the superseding indictment states that “the Defendant had no official responsibilities related to the convening of legitimate electors or their signing and mailing of their certificates of vote.”

Another portion of the indictment adds language that appears targeted to address issues that could arise from another Supreme Court ruling on the obstruction statute behind two of Smith’s charges. The Supreme Court held in Fischer v. United States that the DOJ interpreted the statute used to charge hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants too broadly, finding a defendant must have actually attempted to impair the availability of physical evidence.

“At approximately 2:20 p.m., the official proceeding having been interrupted, staffers evacuating from the Senate carried with them the legitimate electors’ certificates of vote and their governors’ certificates of ascertainment,” the updated indictment notes in its description of Trump’s “exploitation of the violence and chaos at the Capitol.”

The indictment’s charges include one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, one count of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, one count of obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, along with one count of conspiracy against rights. Trump was first indicted on the same four counts in August 2023.

Earlier this month, Smith asked Judge Tanya Chutkan to briefly delay the case, explaining the government was still assessing the impact of the Supreme Court’s ruling. Chutkan agreed to push back a hearing set for Aug. 16 to Sept. 5 and adjust deadlines for both parties to file proposed pre-trial schedules.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that the decision was “shocking” and an effort to “interfere with the election.”

“I’ve also been informed by my attorneys, that you’re not even allowed to bring cases literally right before an Election – A direct assault on Democracy!” he wrote.

“This travesty is now on Comrade Kamala Harris, who is actively pushing it, rather than immediately calling for its dismissal, as should be done,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “This is for Third World Countries and Banana Republics, not for the U.S.A.!”

AUTHOR

Katelynn Richardson

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Supreme Court Hands Jack Smith A Major Defeat In Trump 2020 Election Case

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All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Trump Moves To Hold Jack Smith In Contempt Of Court

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Former President Donald Trump suggested Thursday that the district court hold special counsel Jack Smith and other prosecutors in contempt for violating its order, arguing that Smith is using the docket as an “arm of the Biden Campaign.”

District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan paused proceedings in the former president’s 2020 election case Dec. 13, pending the appeal of her decision not to dismiss his case based on presidential immunity. Yet Smith has continued to file documents on the suspended deadlines, which Trump’s lawyers alleged in a 15-page filing violates the court’s “clear, straightforward, and unambiguous” stay order.

“In this manner, the prosecutors seek to weaponize the Stay to spread political propaganda, knowing that President Trump would not fully respond because the Court relieved him of the burdens of litigation during the Stay,” they wrote. “Worse, the prosecutors have announced their intention to continue this partisan-driven misconduct indefinitely, effectively converting this Court’s docket into an arm of the Biden Campaign.”

Trump’s lawyers asked the court Thursday to issue an order requiring prosecutors to show why they should not be held in contempt and be required to withdraw their filings, as well as provide “monetary sanctions in the amount of President Trump’s reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses incurred in responding to the prosecutors’ improper productions.”

Prosecutors filed 4,000 pages of “additional discovery” on Dec. 17 and an “exhibit list” on Dec. 18, Trump’s lawyers noted. In a filing, prosecutors explained that they took their actions “to help ensure that trial proceeds promptly if and when the mandate returns.”

“President Trump has filed a powerhouse motion to hold Crooked Joe Biden’s henchman, Deranged Jack Smith in contempt of Court for repeatedly violating the stay order in the Washington DC J6 Witch Hunt,” Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement. “Smith was ordered to not take any further action in the trial court until the Presidential Immunity issue is resolved, which should be a full dismissal of this ‘case’ because President Trump was carrying out his duty as President to investigate the Rigged and Stolen 2020 Presidential Election…No prosecutor is above the law.”

Smith has continually pushed to rush the timeline in order to maintain the scheduled March 4 trial date, which Trump’s immunity appeal threw into jeopardy. The Supreme Court shot down on Dec. 22 his request for it to consider the immunity question before the lower court could consider the question.

“Unstated, but obvious, is the prosecutors’ desperate effort to harass President Trump and prevent his likely victory in the 2024 Presidential Election,” Trump’s lawyers wrote Thursday.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals will hold oral arguments to consider Trump’s appeal Jan. 9.

AUTHOR

KATELYNN RICHARDSON

Contributor.

RELATED ARTICLE: Appeals Court Hints It May Consider Constitutional Questions About Jack Smith’s Appointment

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Judge Hands Trump Major Victory In 2020 Election Case

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Obama-appointed District Judge Tanya Chutkan paused former President Donald Trump’s 2020 election trial schedule while the appeal for his presidential immunity claim is pending.

In early December, Chutkan rejected Trump’s bid to have his case dismissed based on presidential immunity, prompting Trump to appeal to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Chutkan agreed Wednesday to pause pre-trial deadlines and further proceedings pending the appeals court’s decision.

The pause could throw Special Counsel Jack Smith’s targeted March 4 trial date into jeopardy and increase the chance that the former president is not put on trial until after the November 2024 presidential election.

“[T]he court agrees with both parties that Defendant’s appeal automatically stays any further proceedings that would move this case towards trial or impose additional burdens of litigation on Defendant,” Chutkan wrote Wednesday.

Smith asked the Supreme Court to take up the presidential immunity question Monday before the D.C. Circuit reaches a decision. The Supreme Court agreed to expedite its consideration of his petition, asking Trump’s attorneys to weigh in by Dec. 20.

Chutkan said she would re-consider whether to maintain the March 4 trial date after the appeal is resolved. She noted that the pause does not strip her of jurisdiction to “enforce the measures it has already imposed to safeguard the integrity of these proceedings,” including the gag order imposed on the former president.

“If jurisdiction is returned to this court, it will—consistent with its duty to ensure both a speedy trial and fairness for all parties—consider at that time whether to retain or continue the dates of any still-future deadlines and proceedings, including the trial scheduled for March 4, 2024,” Chutkan wrote.

Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung called Chutkan’s decision to stay proceedings in the case a “big win” for the former president.

“This is a big win for President Trump and our rule of law, as it derails Deranged Jack Smith’s rush to judgment strategy of interfering in the 2024 Presidential Election in support of Joe Biden’s campaign,” Cheung said. “They waited almost three years to bring this hoax ‘case’ and are now desperately trying, and failing, to rush it because they know President Trump is dominating the election.”

AUTHOR

KATELYNN RICHARDSON

Contributor

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Trump Asks Judge To Recuse Herself From 2020 Election Case

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Former president Donald Trump filed a motion Monday asking the judge hearing his 2020 election interference case to recuse herself.

The filing argues that Judge Tanya Chutkan, an Obama appointee, should recuse herself from the case, alleging she suggested elsewhere that Trump should be prosecuted and imprisoned. It cites comments Chutkan made in a case she heard in October 2022 involving a January 6 defendant, as well as a case she heard in December 2021.

“Such statements, made before this case began and without due process, are inherently disqualifying,” the filing notes. “Although Judge Chutkan may genuinely intend to give President Trump a fair trial—and may believe that she can do so—her public statements unavoidably taint these proceedings, regardless of outcome.”

The filing quotes a portion of the sentencing transcript for a case involving Jan. 6 defendant Christine Priola.

“[T]he people who mobbed that Capitol were there in fealty, in loyalty, to one man — not to the Constitution, of which most of the people who come before me seem woefully ignorant; not to the ideals of this country; and not to the principles of democracy,” Chutkan said, according to the court filing. “It’s a blind loyalty to one person who, by the way, remains free to this day.”

Trump’s lawyers argue the statement’s meaning is “inescapable—President Trump is free, but should not be.”

On another occasion in December 2021, Chutkan told Jan. 6 defendant Robert Scott Palmer “you have made a very good point, one that has been made before — that the people who exhorted you and encouraged you and rallied you to go and take action and to fight have not been charged,” according to the filing.

“The issue of who has or has not been charged is not before me,” she continued, according to the sentencing transcript. “I don’t have any influence on that. I have my opinions, but they are not relevant.”

Trump was indicted Aug. 1 on four counts relating to his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Chutkan set the trial date in his case for March 4, 2024, the day before Super Tuesday.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

AUTHOR

KATELYNN RICHARDSON

Contributor.

RELATED ARTICLE: Judge Sets Trump’s Trial Date One Day Before Super Tuesday

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.