Donald Trump Won't Listen to Judge Chutkan Anymore

Donald Trump's attorneys filed a motion on Thursday for an "automatic stay" on court proceedings in the federal election subversion case against the former president until their appeal on Judge Tanya Chutkan's recent rulings is decided.

Trump was indicted by the Justice Department in August on four counts, including conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, as part of Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation into the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.

On January 6, Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, where Congress was certifying the results of Joe Biden's 2020 election win. The riot followed unsubstantiated claims made by the former president that the election was stolen from him via widespread voter fraud.

Chutkan, the judge presiding over the Washington, D.C., case, recently ruled that Trump cannot avoid prosecution on the grounds of presidential immunity or double jeopardy. Trump's lawyers have appealed Chutkan's rulings and on Thursday asked for an "automatic stay of all district court proceedings in this case pending the final resolution of his recently filed appeal," according to the motion.

The motion says that unless Chutkan rules otherwise, Trump's team will ignore any upcoming deadline regarding "pretrial motions, defense disclosures relating to trial defenses and evidence, CIPA hearings, and jury selection," according to the motion.

"All current deadlines must be held in abeyance until, at minimum, this motion is resolved," the motion reads. "President Trump will proceed based on that understanding and the authorities set forth herein absent further order of the Court."

Newsweek reached out to Trump's lawyers on the case via email for comment.

Joyce Vance, a former U.S. attorney who served in the Obama administration, commented on Trump's request for an "automatic stay" on Thursday.

"Trump has moved to stop any further proceedings in his DC prosecution while he appeals Judge Chutkan's rulings against him," Vance wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "My favorite bit is where his lawyers say they'll assume everything is stayed unless they hear back to the contrary. Oh to be the judge who gets to respond!"

Last Friday, Chutkan, ruled that Trump does not have presidential immunity that protects him from being prosecuted. Chutkan wrote in the opinion: "Defendant's four-year service as Commander in Chief did not bestow on him the divine right of kings to evade the criminal accountability that governs his fellow citizens."

Chutkan also rejected Trump's claim that he cannot be tried in the case because he was impeached by the House and acquitted by the Senate for his alleged involvement in the Capitol riot. Chutkan wrote: "The Impeachment Judgment Clause does not provide that acquittal by the Senate during impeachment proceedings shields a President from criminal prosecution after he leaves office."