The judge in Donald Trump‘s federal election case has cut down his attempts to delay the case, telling the former president’s lawyers: “We can all walk and chew gum at the same time.”
Her comments came after a prosecutor said that his office needed up to three weeks to write a new opening brief for the trial. Trump’s lawyers sought to delay discovery proceedings until after the government had filed the brief to Chutkan’s court in Washington, D.C.
But Chutkan could see no reason why they couldn’t deal with discovery in the same time period, and asked Lauro: “If I give the special counsel the time they’re asking for, the three weeks, why can’t you discuss discovery that you haven’t been given that relates to immunity?”
The remarks were recorded by MSNBC legal analyst Katie Phang, who was in court and wrote verbatim quotes on X, formerly Twitter.
Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event on August 29, 2024 in Potterville, Michigan. Trump is seeking to delay his election fraud case in Washington, D.C.
Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
Lauro replied: “We need everything that we’re entitled to before we address these issues.” Chutkan told Lauro: “We can all walk and chew gum at the same time.”
Trump was indicted in Washington, D.C. on four counts of allegedly working to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the run-up to the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. The Republican presidential nominee has pleaded not guilty and has said the case is part of a political witch hunt.
Newsweek sought email comment from Trump’s attorney on Friday.
Lauro is seeking new discovery documents based on the July 1 Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity, which gave Trump broad protection from prosecution.
Lauro wants to show that Donald Trump’s conversations with then vice president, Mike Pence, are considered official presidential acts under the high court’s ruling.
“The Supreme Court has already decided that the conversations between Trump and Pence is an official act,” he told Chutkan.
Chutkan shot back: “Respectfully I disagree.”
Her comment appears to drive a wedge into a key component of the defense case—that, following the Supreme Court’s decision, the Trump/Pence discussions about the election result are exempt from prosecution and exempt from being used as evidence in other parts of the case.
Chief prosecutor, Jack Smith, has complained several times to Chutkan that Trump’s lawyers are using the discovery process to delay the case as long as possible.
In an August 30 filing, Trump’s lawyers suggest delaying some pretrial hearings: Lauro and Todd Blanche argue that a large amount of disclosure argument must take place in light of the Supreme Court‘s July 1 presidential immunity ruling.
They suggest that the disclosure requests in the case have to be reconsidered before the court even begins to consider the extent of presidential immunity in the case.
They also suggest that motions should continue until January, 2025 with “defense replies in support of motions to dismiss and compel” on January 24, 2025 and “non-evidentiary hearing regarding motions to dismiss and compel” beginning on the week of January 27, 2025 and likely continuing into February.
They then suggest “additional proceedings, if necessary” in the Spring and Fall of 2025.
The details are contained in a joint status filing, in which both the prosecution and defense offer a pretrial timeline to Judge Tanya Chutkan.
In his own section of the joint submission, Smith asked Chutkan to “promote judicial economy” and get through the pretrial process without undue delay.
Smith’s case against Trump had been severely hampered by the Supreme Court’s July 1 decision, which gives presidents broad immunity from prosecution.
As a result, Smith filed a new superseding indictment on August 27 that is nine pages shorter than the original 45-page indictment. Trump has been rearraigned on this new indictment. Chutkan granted his request not to be present and his lawyer pleaded not guilty on his behalf.
