Former President Donald Trump has been on a tear lately with multiple legal wins but he had a rare setback on Saturday when his request to get his January 6th case dismissed.
Judge Tanya Chutkan dismissed Trump's motion in a 16-page ruling explaining that Trump's lawyers "proffered no meaningful evidence … nor has he given any explanation of how a hearing would produce material evidence to support his claims."
All of this comes after the Supreme Court returned Trump's case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
They immediately kicked it down to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in what has become an extremely drawn-out legal process. In fact, this motion was originally filed in October 2023.
Trump wants the case against him dismissed based on selective and vindictive prosecution grounds. These claims are self-evident as Democrats have been extremely selective in their prosecution but Judge Chutkan didn't seem to see things that way.
Trump's J6 case has been on hold for months as Judge Chutkan has refused to schedule a trial until the Supreme Court ruled on Trump’s claim that presidents should enjoy immunity from prosecution.
That decision took months to come out and now the case has circled back to its original starting point with Judge Chutkan yet to set a trial date.
The Supreme Court's decision will likely factor greatly in the outcome of Trump's J6 case as they found that presidents have "absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority” and “presumptive immunity” for all official acts.
Trump's motion was backed by evidence from media outlets about President Joe Biden privately saying that Trump should be prosecuted.
That further proves that the litigation that Trump is facing is being pushed by his political opponents in a crucial election year with the election just months away.
However, there wasn't enough evidence of those statements for Chutkan's standards so she dismissed the motion.
Judge Chutkan set August 16 as the date for the prosecution and the defense to return to Washington to resume pretrial proceedings. Trump is not required to return for that date which is great news as his schedule is packed full on account of waging a busy campaign.
The election is just around the corner with Vice President Kamala Harris set to be coronated at the DNC this week following President Joe Biden's sudden decision to drop out.
There is a strong chance that Trump's trial will not begin until after the election in November considering pre-trial motions aren't even going to begin until mid-August. Should Trump win the election, this trial will likely be inconsequential.
