District Judge Tanya Chutkan will face a challenge getting Trump's lawsuit back on track, which is unlikely to go to trial before the election and probably never will.

After months of delays in the election interference case prosecuted by Special Counsel Jack Smith due to former President Donald Trump's presidential immunity appeals, the case was finally returned to Chutkan on Friday. She quickly scheduled a hearing for Aug. 16 and asked both sides to submit pretrial schedules by Aug. 9, but legal experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation that efforts to move the case forward will continue to face challenges.

The Supreme Court ruled on July 1 that a president is immune from prosecution for acts committed while in office, and instructed lower courts to determine which parts of Trump's indictment fall within that category. (Related article: Experts point out that Democrats are intensifying their battle with the Supreme Court with unconstitutional bill aimed at ruling the president immune from charges.)

“Judge Chutkan will likely have to begin a hearing on which charges in the indictment relate to 'unofficial conduct' and which relate to 'official conduct' (appeals will likely ensue regardless of the ruling). He will also have to decide whether Mr. Trump is entitled to absolute immunity with respect to 'official conduct' or only presumed immunity. In the latter category, he will also have to decide whether Jack Smith's office has presented sufficient evidence to demonstrate that charging Mr. Trump with these conduct would not have a chilling effect on future presidents and thus overturn the presumption of immunity.”

There may be a “mini-trial” — an evidentiary hearing to determine whether the charges meet the standards set by the Supreme Court, but its ultimate impact may be small.

“It remains highly questionable whether this case will go to trial,” Malcolm told the DCNF. “In terms of the impact on the election, I suspect voters are already taking into account the events surrounding the 2020 election and its aftermath when deciding whether to re-elect Donald Trump or elect Kamala Harris.”

Chutkan has moved quickly since the case began. Verdict Just two months after the lawsuit was filed, he opposed President Trump's initial motion to dismiss the lawsuit on presidential immunity grounds.

As soon as the case returned to her court over the weekend, she also Rejected President Trump's efforts to dismiss cases based on selective and retaliatory prosecution.

“We find no evidence of discriminatory intent in the materials cited by Defendants, and the Court is left with only Defendants' unfounded assertion that the prosecution must be politically motivated because it coexists with a presidential campaign,” Judge Chutkan wrote in Saturday's ruling.

Trump's lawyers brought Chutkan in early on. Decline Statements she made during other incidents involving the defendants on January 6, such as claiming that those who entered the Capitol did so out of “blind loyalty to one man who remains free to this day,” led Trump's lawyers to argue that those statements suggest Chutkan believes Trump should be jailed. Rejected The September motion said the record did not support a “reasonable” doubt about her impartiality.

Former federal prosecutor Joseph Moreno told the DCNF that efforts to reopen the case “will likely fail.”

“Any claims against Trump would need to be litigated under this immunity standard. And they are subject to 'interlocutory' appeals, meaning they can be filed before the trial begins, allowing either side to appeal and delay the case, potentially all the way back to the Supreme Court,” he said. “All of this is going to take time.”

Also blocking the trial is the issue of an opinion by Judge Eileen Cannon, who ruled Smith's appointment unconstitutional and dismissed Trump's classified documents lawsuit in Florida.

“[Cannon’s] “Because this decision applies within the 11th Circuit, it is not binding on Judge Chutkan of the D.C. Circuit,” Moreno said. “But the Trump campaign will undoubtedly file a motion to dismiss with Judge Chutkan, which would likely create a split in the circuit and potentially send the case back to the Supreme Court.” (Related: Jack Smith's other big Trump lawsuit may end in disaster as judge rules his appointment “unconstitutional”)

Former federal prosecutor Katie Cherkasky told the DCNF that she expects the Aug. 16 hearing to be a “thorough analysis of virtually all of the evidence and expected testimony to assess whether it falls within the scope of the immunity decision.”

“Even if a ruling were made against President Trump, I doubt the trial would be able to proceed before the election,” Cherkassky said. “Furthermore, Chutkan would have to contend with Fisher, which affects half of the counts in the DC lawsuit and could result in those counts being dismissed as well, regardless of the immunity ruling.”

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