The judge Tanya Chutkan has agreed this Friday to grant a pause in the trial that Donald Trump faces in Washington for the assault on the Capitol to give the special prosecutor time, Jack Smithto evaluate how to proceed after the Republican’s victory in last Tuesday’s elections.
The judge has authorized that the pending deadlines be suspended and that The Government will present its deliberations on December 2 about the way forward in this criminal case, as Smith had requested.
The prosecutor has requested a pause to study How to move forward in line with Department of Justice policiesthat prevent investigation of presidents while they are in office and that, therefore, they would force Smith to close the case.
It was planned that next November 21 Trump’s lawyers will present to the judge their documentation on why he shouldn’t be tried in Washington after the Supreme Court ruled that Former presidents enjoy broad immunity from prosecution.
Trump, who last Tuesday defeated the vice president and Democratic candidate, Kamala Harrisis charged in the District of Columbia for his attempts to reverse the election results he lost in 2020 against Joe Biden and for having allegedly instigated the January 2021 assault on the Capitol.
His victory is scheduled to be certified on January 6 and to be invested on the 20th of said month.
According to the newspaper The New York TimesSmith had already begun discussions with members of the Department of Justice about How to move forward after the elections in the two federal cases: that of the Capitol and the accusation in Florida for having been taken from the White House classified documents upon leaving power.
The chain NBCNews added that the Department of Justice seems to have assumed that neither the process in Washington nor the one in Florida can take place in the near future and that, Now that he has been elected again, he sees no room to continue them.
The special prosecutor has not yet requested a pause in the process in Florida. That case was dismissed on July 15, but Smith petitioned an appeals court on August 26 to have it reinstated.
The Republican said during the campaign that on his first day as president would fire Smith and order the Justice Department to close the cases against him which, he maintains, were motivated by political persecution.
Trump faces four parallel criminal trials: the two federal ones and two others in local courts in New York and Georgia.
The only one where there is a conviction is the one in New York for falsification of commercial records to covering up a payment to porn actress Stormy Danielswith whom he allegedly had an affair in the past, to prevent it from harming his 2016 campaign.
The objective of the Trump team, according to NBCNewsis that all cases be dismissed. In New York, the possibility of indefinitely postpone the hearing scheduled for the end of November.
According to the US Constitution, a president cannot forgive himself in a state accusation, as happens in New York, and in the case of Georgia, where he is accused of electoral interference, Nor could the governor pardon him.
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