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The judge in Donald Trump's election tampering case will push ahead with jury selection, despite requests from the former president's lawyers for her to postpone the trial.
The Washington D.C.-based federal judge, Tanya Chutkan, ruled on Thursday that potential jurors will fill out a preliminary questionnaire on February 9, 2024, less than a month before Trump's trial is scheduled to begin, on March 4. The questionnaire will help assess if they have strong feelings about the former president that might prevent them from reaching a fair verdict.
In making her ruling, she explicitly warned that Trump can't share juror information on his campaign trial. This is to prevent Trump, who is already under a gag order in the case, from claiming that individual jurors are biased against him.
"The parties must ensure that anyone permitted access to sensitive juror information understands that he cannot publicly disclose the information, and no party may provide jurors' identifying information to any other entity (e.g., the defendant's campaign) that is not part of the defense team or Government team assisting with jury selection," Chutkan wrote.
Her scheduling date follows several attempts by Trump's lawyers to have the case delayed. In October, Trump's legal team claimed presidential immunity for acts that occurred while he was president.
A federal grand jury in August indicted Trump on four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, arising from his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election result.
Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith is leading the prosecution team, which accuses Trump, among other charges, of submitting false slates of pro-Trump electors from swing states he lost to the Electoral College.
Trump maintains his innocence, accusing prosecutors of targeting him for political purposes. He pleaded not guilty in this case, as he did in his three other criminal cases.
Chutkan issued an order on Wednesday blocking Trump's legal team from seeing some of the government's evidence against him that has been deemed classified.
Chutkan granted the government's motion to allow prosecutors to withhold "certain classified information" from the former president, instead allowing them to provide an "unclassified summary substitution for certain classified information."
Trump's lawyers have been accused of requesting classified documents to delay his trials until after the 2024 presidential election.
On Wednesday, a Florida judge delayed pretrial hearings in Trump's upcoming classified documents trial, something his legal team has been seeking for months.
"I'm just having a hard time seeing how realistically this work can be accomplished in this compressed period of time, given the realities that we're facing," U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon said at a hearing.
The trial is due to begin on May 20, and Trump wants it delayed until after the 2024 election. If elected president, he is likely to seek to shut down the case.
Cannon said that, given the legal complexity surrounding the handling of the classified documents, she may not be able to keep to the schedule she set in July. She said she'd set a new timeline "as soon as possible."
Trump's lawyers have been arguing for months over the disclosure of classified documents, which can only be viewed at special secure rooms set up in South Florida. The documents were taken from Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, and his lawyers have a right to review the evidence found there.
Cannon announced in October that Trump's trial will begin on May 20, 2024, in a Trump-leaning county to the north of the one where the documents were allegedly stored. Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith had sought a December 2023 trial date, and Trump's legal team argued for a start after the November 2024 election.
Trump has long denied all wrongdoing, frequently accusing the Biden administration of having "weaponized" the FBI and DOJ to try to hinder his 2024 presidential campaign. Trump is currently the frontrunner in the race for the Republican nomination.
In October, Cannon accepted Trump's lawyers' submissions that the case should be designated "complex" under federal law, which may potentially place it on a longer timeline.
Also, in October, a former federal prosecutor said Trump is trying to delay his criminal trials so that he can exonerate himself if reelected president.
Former federal prosecutor Preet Bharara said that Trump likely has three ways to avoid his two federal trials, including pardoning himself, appointing a favorable attorney general or claiming federal immunity.
Speaking on his Spotify podcast, Stay Tuned With Preet, Bharara said that in the federal cases relating to election interference and hoarding classified documents, Trump could pardon himself when he becomes president. Bharara said this option would be litigated in court.
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