Dramatic Day in Trump’s January 6 Case, as Judge Says She Wants a Trial To Start Soon and Insists Election Is Not a Factor |

  The New York Sun (nysun.com)   Special Counsel Jack Smith recently filed a slimmed-down indictment in response to the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on presidential immunity.

On behalf of his client, Mr. Lauro reiterated that Trump was pleading not guilty to all charges. 

"The prosecution of President Trump at Washington for alleged election subversion restarted with a courtroom meeting on Thursday, the first convening since the Supreme Court ruled that presidents have broad immunity for official acts in discharging their duties. Special Counsel Jack Smith — who recently filed a new, slimmed down indictment to accommodate the Nine’s ruling —  took the time to file a document containing classified information that is, for the time being, hidden from public view. 

"In a major development, the presiding judge, Tanya Chutkan, said that she would move to schedule a trial as soon as possible, and that the upcoming election would not factor into trial scheduling. Prior to Thursday’s hearing, many legal observers had said they did not believe it was possible for the trial to take place before the election. Whether that’s now changed is unclear.

"On Thursday, prosecutors and Trump’s defense attorneys appeared — without the defendant — in Judge Chutkan’s courtroom to discuss issues of immunity and scheduling for the trial. At one point, Judge Chutkan grew frustrated, according to MSNBC, when Trump’s attorney, John Lauro, tried to argue that Mr. Smith was illegally appointed to his position — an argument that was convincing to Judge Aileen Cannon in Mr. Smith’s other prosecution of Trump, in Florida, over his hoarding of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Judge Cannon threw out the entire case and Mr. Smith is appealing.

"Judge Chutkan, whose rulings have been overwhelmingly favorable to the prosecution — unlike Judge Cannon’s — rejected outright the idea that Mr. Smith was appointed illegally. " ...

. . . "Mr. Lauro asked Judge Chutkan to delay the trial even further, possibly for several weeks, given the election and Trump’s campaign schedule. She said that because the case has already been going on for more than a year, there was no need to slow-walk the trial any further. When Mr. Lauro claimed the judge was rushing to trial, Judge Chutkan shot back: “This case has been pending for more than a year. We’re hardly sprinting to the finish line here.' ” . . .