Friday, December 1, 2023

Chutkan denies Trump motion to dismiss

Less than twelve hours after the DC Circuit ruled that an office-seeker does not enjoy presidential immunity from civil suit, Judge Tanya Chutkan issued her order ruling that Trump does not enjoy presidential immunity for crimes committed while president.

[...]

The timing of Chutkan’s decision is almost certainly not accidental. The key issue in this opinion, absolute immunity, has been fully briefed (as Trump noted on November 1 when he asked to stay all other proceedings until this was resolved) since October 26.

Chutkan said she was ruling now because the Supreme Court requires immunity to be resolved as early as possible.

[...]

This puts the onus on Trump to appeal, which he reportedly will (though he has dilly-dallied on some of these motions, so we’ll see how much time he kills in the process).

It seems clear that Chutkan waited for Blassingame, the civil immunity opinion, because she found a way to cite it twice and still release her own opinion on the same day.

But it also seems likely that Judge Chutkan and her clerks simply reviewed that opinion to make sure nothing wildly conflicted with her already completed opinion.

[...]

Indeed, one of Chutkan’s citations to Blassingame effectively admitted she didn’t get into its test — whether Trump was acting in his official role when he did the things alleged in the indictment.

[...]

This is an opinion about holding a former President accountable before he becomes President again. The danger is real: On the same day two courts ruled that Trump didn’t have absolute immunity for his conduct while he was President, his Georgia lawyer argued that if he wins in 2024, he can’t be tried on that case until 2029.

But for now, the matter has been sent to the DC Circuit to deal with.

  Emptywheel


I think she told him once before that he's not a king.

Her ruling came right after a federal appeals court denied Trump's similar motion in a civil case, which will allow people injured on January 6th to sue Trump for inciting violence. (Blassingame v. Trump)




UPDATE 12/02/2023:



Also...




That's the safest bet you'll ever make.  So mark your calendars.  If he were actually innocent, he'd want all the trials to be done before the election so the people could see him acquitted. 



UPDATE 12/03/2023:


In every criminal trial, all he needs is one juror to vote in his favor - to have even a doubt of his guilt. His delaying tactics mean he's not even confident of that.


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