Donald Trump’s criminal election interference case in Washington has been paused while the former president pursues a claim that he is immune from prosecution..
Trump’s trial on charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election is currently scheduled to start on March 4.
But the latest decision by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan makes it likely to be postponed, potentially until after the 2024 election.
Trump has claimed that he was immune from the legal fallout of the January 6, 2001 riot at the U.S. Capitol because he was president.
That has set off a series of problems for the prosecution as the legally untested argument winds through the courts.
It has led to a dispute over the scope of presidential power that may ultimately, for the first time, be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The issue is of key significance to both sides and an eventual ruling in Trump’s favor would derail the case.
Earlier this month Judge Chutkan rejected Trump’s claims that he was shielded from prosecution over actions he took while fulfilling his duties as president.
His lawyers then asked an appeals court in Washington to review the decision, and urged that the case be frozen until that was decided.
Special counsel Jack Smith, who is prosecuting Trump, attempted to stop that by asking the Supreme Court on Monday to fast-track an opinion on the immunity question.
The court indicated it would decide quickly whether to take the case up, ordering Trump’s lawyers to respond by December 20.
However, there was no indication of what its final ruling would be, or when it would be reached.
A Supreme Court case usually lasts several months.
In her three-page order on Wednesday Judge Chutkan, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, flatly rejected Trump’s arguments that he was immune from prosecution.
She said the office of the president “does not confer a lifelong ‘get-out-of-jail-free” pass.’
However, she ordered a pause on any ‘further proceedings that would move this case towards trial or impose additional burdens of litigation on Defendant’ while the immunity question is decided.
She left open the possibility of keeping the current trial date if the case returns to her court.
That date and other deadlines for lawyers were being put on pause rather than canceled, she said.
The judge also said her ruling had no bearing on the enforcement of a gag order placing restrictions on Trump’s speech outside of court.
Smith’s team had asked Judge Chutkan not to pause the case.
They argued the judge could continue to resolve issues unrelated to the appeal while the immunity claim is decided.
Prosecutors said they would ‘continue to meet every pretrial deadline the court has set for it,” so that the case could swiftly move to trial if the higher court rejected Trump’s immunity argument.
Trump’s lawyers have accused prosecutors of trying to rush the case through before next year’s presidential election.
‘The prosecution has one goal in this case: To unlawfully attempt to try, convict, and sentence President Trump before an election in which he is likely to defeat President Biden,’ they wrote.
‘This represents a blatant attempt to interfere with the 2024 presidential election and to disenfranchise the tens of millions of voters who support President Trump’s candidacy.’
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