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Donald Trump's March 4 trial on election fraud charges has been dropped from the court calendar.
In December, Judge Tanya Chutkan agreed to freeze the case while Trump appealed the indictment on presidential immunity grounds.
Its removal from the court calendar signals that the case will likely not begin for several more months, pushing it closer to the presidential election in November.
The Washington D.C Court of Appeals is now considering the case and it will likely go to the U.S Supreme Court after that.
One legal professor told Newsweek that there is an "odd silence" from the Court of Appeals about its schedule in the Trump immunity case.
The delay is a big victory for Trump, who has been seeking to delay his criminal trials until after the election.
Newsweek sought email comment on Friday from Trump's lawyer. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him in four criminal cases and remains the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
If sworn in as president in January 2025, Trump could appoint a favorable attorney general and have the federal cases dropped, he could seek to pardon himself or he could ask the Supreme Court to delay all criminal trials until after he has served his term.
A jury was due to be chosen this month in the election fraud case but all preparations were frozen after the Supreme Court refused to fast-track the immunity case, allowing a slower appeal process that has been to Trump's benefit.
In his appeal, launched on December 7, 2023, Trump argues that he is immune from prosecution for acts committed in serving his presidential duties, including his claims that Democrats had rigged the 2020 presidential election in Joe Biden's favor.
On Thursday, a former federal prosecutor predicted that none of Trump's four criminal cases would reach trial before the election.
Bill Shipley, who spent 22 years as a federal prosecutor and recently defended more than 20 of the January 6 defendants as a private attorney, said Trump will almost certainly be convicted if the cases go ahead.
"I've said pretty much since day 1 that I didn't think any of the cases would get to trial before the Nov. election," he wrote Thursday on X, formerly Twitter. "There are 4 criminal cases pending against Trump and the Dems/Biden are desperate to have one of them go to trial. Given their locations, convictions are almost certain regardless of the merits of the cases or the evidence."
Federal prosecutor Jack Smith, who is overseeing two of the criminal cases, has repeatedly complained that Trump's lawyers are trying to delay his federal cases until after the election.
The indictments include the federal election interference case in Washington, D.C. that was due to start on March 4. While the case is on hold, Trump's lawyers have refused to open any file sent to them by Smith's office, including a proposed trial schedule and documents they had requested.
Smith has also indicted Trump in Florida for allegedly hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. That case has been beset with delays caused by the handling of the documents at the center of the case.
Trump was also indicted in Georgia for alleged interference in the 2020 election in the state. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has said that, with a start date in August, the trial will continue after the November election and could continue after inauguration day in January 2025.
Finally, Trump is due to go on trial in New York on March 25 over alleged hush payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
New York University law professor Stephen Gillers told Newsweek on Thursday that the Florida trial will likely not go ahead before the election and that two of the other cases might be delayed beyond November.
He said that the appeals court has not given any indication about when it might rule on Trump's presidential immunity in the federal election case in Washington.
"We can only talk about probabilities," Gillers said. "A month ago, it was probable that the D.C. trial would go ahead in early March as planned, but the odd silence of the circuit court on the immunity claim changes that. On the other hand, the court might reject immunity and end the stay of district court proceedings tomorrow, which can enable a trial by early or late April.
"The Florida case was never likely to go to trial before election day. The judge does not seem eager to hold a trial and the defense motions have offered her ways to delay it."
He said the Georgia court case is still scheduled for August.
"I put the likelihood of that at better than 50/50," he added.
A delay in the D.C. case means that Trump's first criminal trial will likely be over the alleged hush money payments to Stormy Daniels.
That trial was listed for March 25. Justice Juan Merchan has scheduled a pretrial hearing for February 15, when he will decide if the trial will go ahead.
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About the writer
Sean O'Driscoll is a Newsweek Senior Crime and Courts Reporter based in Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. law. ... Read more