Judge Cannon's delay just made it 'more possible' Trump faces D.C. trial before election
Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision to "indefinitely delay" former President Donald Trump's criminal classified documents trial might come with a silver lining for special counsel Jack Smith, according to legal experts.
Former Acting U.S. Solicitor General Neil Katyal believes Cannon's postponement will allow Smith's team to put their entire focus on Trump's federal election immunity case, he said in a recent interview on MSNBC.
"Judge Cannon’s decision today has now cleared the docket for Trump,” Katyal said. When host Alex Wagner asked if Katyal thought it possible Smith's election interference case will head to court before Election Day, he said yes.
"I still think it's possible," Katyal said. "And Judge Cannon's decision today makes it more possible."
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Trump's federal election interference case has been stymied for months as the Supreme Court first bunted his presidential immunity claim to a lower court — which rejected it in a unanimous ruling — then scheduled arguments for Trump's appeal on the last possible day.
The Supreme Court heard Trump's arguments for absolute immunity on April 25, as the former president stood trial in Manhattan criminal court on charges he falsified business records in a scheme to subvert the 2016 presidential election.
Trump has pleaded not guilty.
After Cannon's ruling — and a Georgia appeals court's decision to reconsider Trump's challenge to the Fulton County prosecutor charging him with election racketeering — experts say two of the his four criminal cases don't stand a chance of going to trial before Election Day on Nov. 5
This leaves Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's case, already underway, and Smith's election interference case filed in Washington D.C. federal court.
That's where attorney Bradley P. Moss said he found the "silver lining" around Cannon's decision not to set a new trial date.
"She isn't blocking the DC or Georgia election cases from resuming in the late summer/early fall," Moss said on X, "pending SCOTUS ruling on immunity."
It remains unclear when the Supreme Court will issue its ruling, but when the Associated Press covered arguments in April, they noted the court is expected to issue the last of its opinions by late June, four months before the election.
According to the report, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan that estimates she'll need three months for pre-trial issues.