Trump’s Jan. 6 case officially back in Judge Chutkan’s hands after immunity ruling

Former President Trump’s federal election subversion charges officially returned to his trial judge in Washington, D.C., on Friday to determine the case’s future after the Supreme Court last month carved out immunity for former presidents. 

Trump’s immunity claims froze the case for months, but U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan is now poised to set a schedule and announce next steps. 

The case is not expected to reach trial before this year’s presidential election, when Trump hopes to retake the White House and dismantle the prosecution.  

But the judge could tee up an evidentiary hearing that effectively becomes a mini-trial before November, as the judge mulls how to apply the Supreme Court’s new immunity test to the specifics of the GOP nominee’s indictment. 

The high court’s 6-3 decision granted former presidents at least presumptive immunity for official acts, likely dooming some of the allegations contained within the former president’s four-count indictment that accuses him of conspiring to subvert the 2020 election results. He pleaded not guilty.

Chutkan, an appointee of former President Obama, regained control of the case Friday after the Supreme Court earlier in the day formally handed down its judgment in Trump’s immunity appeal.  

Though the justices announced their opinion on July 1, the court’s default rules prescribe a 32-day period before the judgment is returned to the lower court. Special counsel Jack Smith, who had repeatedly pushed for speed in the prosecution, did not ask to expedite that step. 

After the Supreme Court sent its judgment to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, that court immediately handed it another rung down the ladder: back to Chutkan’s court. 

Although the next steps remain unclear, Trump’s team throughout the case and in his other criminal prosecutions have insisted his prosecutions shouldn’t proceed until after the election. 

Chutkan has previously rebuffed the former president’s attempts for delay, saying the election won’t factor into her timing decisions. It raised expectations that the case would reach trial before November, until the Supreme Court agreed to take up Trump’s immunity appeal.