The delays and uncertainty surrounding special counsel Jack Smith's legal warfare against Donald Trump took yet another turn this week amid the government's request for additional time to decide how to move forward with its election interference case in which the former president is a defendant.
As The Hill reports, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Friday approved Smith's motion for an extension of time to assess the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling on presidential immunity on the case against Trump, a move that went unopposed by the former president's legal team.
It was on Thursday that the government's team made its request for more time to evaluate how its lawyers believe the case against Trump should move forward in light of the SCOTUS decision.
The difficulties for Smith arose in the wake of the thigh court's ruling that granted Trump at least some degree of immunity for acts deemed to have been part of his “official” duties while in office.
After months of appeal-induced delay, the case was finally returned to Chutkan's jurisdiction, and that is when she weighed in on Smith's request.
Smith sought a three-week halt to a number of upcoming deadlines, indicating to many the unlikelihood that a potentially riveting evidentiary hearing complete with witness testimony might take place in advance of the presidential election.
In asking for additional time, Smith's team wrote, “The Government continues to assess the new precedent set forth last month in the Supreme Court's decision in Trump v. United States. Although those consultations are well underway, the Government has not finalized its position on the most appropriate schedule for the parties to brief issues related to the decision.”
Though originally scheduled for trial on March 4 of this year, a series of subsequent appeals resulted in noteworthy delays in the case's progress, and the Supreme Court's blockbuster immunity ruling has now all but guaranteed that proceedings will be stalled far beyond November.
As the Associated Press has noted, the justices' ruling requires a new round of fact-finding regarding the nature of the conduct at issue in the election interference case, the results of which could force Smith to make radical alterations to the charges against Trump.
The ability of either of the parties to appeal rulings made throughout that process adds even greater uncertainty to the timeline, which Trump foes had hoped would see him face trial -- and perhaps even a conviction -- before voters go to the polls.
With Chutkan's grant of additional time, both parties to the case will continue working on their respective status reports in which they will offer recommendations on where the case should go next.
As such, the reports that were initially set for submission on Friday are now due on Aug. 30.
In addition, a status conference that had been slated to take place on Aug. 16 has been pushed back until Sept. 5.
Legal observers and voters alike now await the filing of Trump's and Smith's status reports that will offer key insights as to how the government might attempt to salvage its case against the former president, knowing full well that nothing determinative is likely to unfold before Election Day.
