Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance said Monday that there's no chance former President Donald Trump's trial in Washington, D.C., will take place before the November election.
Trump has been charged with four felony counts of attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan canceled a originally scheduled trial date for March, even though the former president's immunity appeal is still pending. Vance said on “Morning Joe” that the Supreme Court's decision on Trump's appeal ensures that the former president's trial will not take place before the election. (Related story: Left-wing district attorney, Biden Justice Department alum secures Trump conviction in Biden donor blue district court)
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Former US attorney tells MSNBC: 'There's absolutely no chance Trump will be tried in Washington before the election' pic.twitter.com/JWE4Z6daAb
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 5, 2024
“Jonathan, there's absolutely no chance this case will ever go to trial,” Vance told host Jonathan Lemire. “The way the Supreme Court ruled this, if Judge Chutkan rules and she lets any of the charges in the indictment stand, it would mean the government could use any of this evidence, even though Mr. Trump claims that presidential immunity covers it all, and there would be a second round of appeals. Because the way immunity works, as the Supreme Court has made clear, is that if you have immunity, it means you don't have to stand trial on the charges that you have immunity on.”
“So Trump will inevitably challenge anything she allows to go forward… This case is not going to move forward anytime soon,” she added.
The Supreme Court ruled in July that the president is immune from criminal prosecution for “official duties” performed while in office.
“Under our constitutional separation of powers structure, the nature of presidential powers entitles a former president to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for acts that fall within the scope of his categorical and exclusive constitutional authority,” the court wrote in a 6-3 decision. “And he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts, but no immunity for his unofficial acts.”
Chutkan on Saturday denied Trump's motion to dismiss the case, citing prosecutors' “retaliatory” prosecution. according to The judge also stated: set A hearing on how the case should proceed will be held on August 16th.
Trump's criminal case in Georgia is also unlikely to begin before the election because the trial has been paused pending an appeal by the defense to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the case.
CNN senior legal analyst Ellie Honig said in June that the Georgia lawsuit probably won't go forward and certainly won't before 2025.
“There is no chance that this case will go to trial before the end of 2024, and if Donald Trump and the other defendants prevail on appeal, it may never go to trial,” he said.
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