The Trump Trials: Awaiting special counsel motions, gag order rulings – The Washington Post
Welcome back to The Trump Trials, where we are knee-deep in the weeds of prosecution and defense motions and awaiting decisions on the Georgia trial date, Trump’s appeal of his D.C. gag order and a host of other pretrial issues.
Have questions on the cases? Email us at perry.stein@washpost.com and devlin.barrett@washpost.com and check for answers in future newsletters.
Okay, let’s get started.
If Donald Trump wins the 2024 election, he can’t face a criminal trial in Georgia until at least 2029 — after he leaves the presidency — his Atlanta-based defense attorney argued in a state courtroom Friday. The prosecution team has asked for a trial to start in August 2024 — and strongly rejected the 2029 option. Now we wait for Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who said Friday that it was too early to set a date, citing, in part, the uncertain schedule in Trump’s three other criminal cases.
In the election-obstruction case in D.C., special counsel Jack Smith has upcoming deadlines to fire back against Trump’s wide-ranging and at times imaginative demands for information he claims exists at a host of government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Capitol Police. The requests are legal long shots, but Trump’s lawyers said last week that the information will help them fight charges that the former president conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
We’re launching an occasional feature to help you keep track of Trump’s court-issued gag orders, which bar him from talking about some of the people involved in his D.C. federal prosecution and his New York civil fraud case. Here’s where they stand this week:
Now, a recap of last week’s action.
The details: Four counts related to conspiring to obstruct the 2020 election results.
Planned trial date: March 4
What happened: Chutkan ruled that Trump cannot claim “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution for actions during his presidency — denying Trump’s request to dismiss the charges. The fight over presidential power is likely headed to the Supreme Court.
In a separate case, a federal appeals court in Washington said that Trump can be civilly liable — that means he may be sued and could have to pay victims — for a pro-Trump mob’s attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Two U.S. Capitol police officers and about a dozen Democratic lawmakers filed the lawsuit, saying Trump instigated the violence by urging supporters to march to the Capitol and “fight like hell.”
The details: Trump faces 13 state charges for allegedly trying to undo the election results in that state. Four of his 18 co-defendants have pleaded guilty.
Planned trial date: None yet.
What else happened last week: Our colleagues Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Amy Gardner reported that there are efforts underway to have Kenneth Chesebro — a former Trump attorney who pleaded guilty in Georgia — cooperate in state election-interference investigations in Nevada and Arizona.
At Friday’s hearing in Fulton County, Judge McAfee said he is considering splitting up the remaining 15 defendants — a group that includes Trump — into two subgroups for trial, though he will not make a decision until next year.
Once again, the nerd word of the week is an acronym: ECA. The Electoral Count Act of 1887 spelled out how to count electoral votes for president. In 2020, Trump and his allies tried to argue the law gave the vice president significant say in which votes should be counted — a claim most legal experts scoffed at. The law was updated last year to clarify the responsibilities of the vice president, lawmakers and states when it comes to certifying the results of a presidential election.
The details: Trump faces 40 federal charges over accusations that he kept top-secret government documents at Mar-a-Lago — his home and private club — and thwarted government demands to return them.
Planned trial date: May 20
What happened: There were some incremental filings in the case this week. Most are under seal — to be expected in a case that revolves around national security secrets. The parties are debating how the classified materials may be used at trial, based on the steps laid out in the Classified Information Procedures Act.
The details: 34 charges connected to a 2016 hush money payment.
Planned trial date: March 25
Last week: Nothing to report here again this week. But nearby at the New York civil courthouse, Trump’s lawyers continue to fight state charges that Trump and his real estate company fraudulently inflated values of their properties.
Our colleague Shayna Jacobs reports that multiple defense witnesses discussed how Deutsche Bank made millions off deals with the Trump family. This testimony was intended to counter accusations that the bank was cheated out of profits because of Trump’s alleged fraud. That trial is expected to wind down in a matter of weeks — with Trump likely returning to the witness stand Dec. 11.
Q. Are the criminal trial dates set in stone? And why are they so far away?
A. We get a boatload of questions like this.
A trial date is set by a judge, after hearing recommendations from prosecutors and defense attorneys. Judges consider how much time they think it will take to argue and resolve the legal and evidentiary parameters of the case. But the date often slides back.
For example, in the Florida case, Trump’s attorneys said they need more time to review the evidence during the discovery process. The judge pushed back many pretrial deadlines, and said she’ll decide in March whether the May trial date stands.
So no, trial dates are never set in stone.
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