Both Trump's lawyers and prosecutor Jack Smith agreed on a request for a three-week delay in the 2020 election case in order to continue weighing the recent Supreme Court immunity ruling.
Trump's team would, of course, like to delay the case indefinitely if they can't get it dismissed, but Smith said it would be August 30 until the prosecution is ready to proceed on whatever part of the case is left.
“The Government continues to assess the new precedent set forth last month in the Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. United States … including through consultation with other Department of Justice components,” the joint status report filed to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said.
Trump responded to the request, saying, “It is clear that the Supreme Court’s historic decision on immunity demands and requires a complete and total dismissal of all the witch hunts.”
As it is, Trump won't be available for the first two weeks of September because of the sentencing phase of his New York trial on falsifying business records.
The trial has been on hold for eight months already, and there is little hope it can be concluded before the November election.
The other case brought by Smith for mishandling classified documents was dismissed by Judge Aileen Cannon because she determined that Smith was unconstitutionally appointed.
Smith is appealing that ruling, though, so the case may not be over for sure.
Other than the sentencing in September on the New York case, prosecutors have so far not been able to make anything stick to Trump, and Judge Juan Merchan has said that even the sentencing of the New York case is uncertain.
While Trump was not charged for official acts in the New York case, some of the testimony given in the case pertained to official acts, which received broad immunity in the ruling.
Both Merchan and Smith had repeatedly denied that Trump has any immunity protection before the Supreme Court ruled in his favor, so it stands to reason that they would need some time to pick up the pieces of their now-dismantled cases before deciding whether they can still move forward on anything at all.
The Trump prosecutions that were supposed to convince the public that Trump could not be put in charge of the free world again have instead bolstered his support, along with the assassination attempt on his life.
The drama in the Democrat party over President Joe Biden stepping down and the nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him have sucked a lot of the oxygen out of the Trump prosecutions lately.
If any of the cases turns out to be salvageable, it may rev up the base again and make Trump all but unbeatable in November.
