Chutkan sets Aug. 16 hearing in Trump election interference case

The judge overseeing former President Trump’s federal election interference case has set a hearing for Aug. 16 at 10 a.m., which Trump is not required to attend.

In an order filed Saturday, obtained by The Hill, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan announced the new meeting will be a status conference.

After the Supreme Court last month carved out immunity for former presidents, Trump’s case was on hold. Now, with Chutkan’s announcement, it appears to be back on track.

All parties will file a status report by Aug. 9 that jointly proposes a possible schedule for “pretrial proceedings moving forward.”

“If necessary, the parties may explain any disagreements in separate sections of the report,” Chutkan said.

The case is not expected to reach trial before the presidential election this fall. With the Supreme Court’s ruling, the judge may weigh how the decision affects the specifics of the case.

Trump’s case was handed back to Chutkan, and the lower court, after the 32-day waiting period from the Supreme Court was up.

Next steps are unclear, but Trump’s team has insisted that his prosecutions should wait until after the election. The new deadlines will offer a glimpse of how Special Counsel Jack Smith plans to proceed with the immunity issue.

In the past, Chutkan dismissed Trump’s attempts to delay the case by saying the election won’t factor into her timing decisions for the matter. There was the potential that Chutkan would allow the case to go to trial before November, but the Supreme Court decision skewed the timeline.

In her order, Chutkan denied Trump’s motion to dismiss the indictment based on statutory grounds and said he could file a new motion “once all issues of immunity have been resolved.”

“The court will set additional deadlines following the August 16, 2024 status conference,” she wrote.