Special Counsel Jack Smith motioned for the court to grant additional time for prosecutors to sort out the impact that the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling has on former President Donald Trump’s federal election case.
Trump’s election subversion case, in which he faces four criminal felony counts accusing him of attempting to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden, was sent back to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan last week following the Supreme Court’s decision in July that said presidents have full immunity for actions that fall under their official duties.
The ruling has raised questions over what Trump can now be charged with pertaining to Smith’s indictment filed in August 2023. Chutkan rejected a motion from Trump to dismiss the charges altogether based on the High Court ruling.
In a court filing Thursday that was reviewed by Newsweek, Smith wrote that both parties in the case “have conferred” over how to proceed with the case. Chutkan had previously ordered that the sides had to file a joint status report by August 9 that proposes a pretrial schedule.
But Smith said that the federal government “has not finalized its position on the most appropriate schedule for the parties to brief issues related to the decision,” and “respectfully requests additional time” to assess the Supreme Court’s immunity precedent.
Smith said prosecutors are seeking to submit a joint status report with Trump’s team by August 30 and hold a schedule status conference “a convenient day thereafter.” He added that prosecutors are free any day after August 30 except for September 6 and the week of September 16.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
