Former President Donald Trump will not face trial for special counsel Jack Smith's election interference case until after Election Day, Fox News reported. Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan made this ruling during a status hearing Thursday on Smith's superseding indictment.
After Trump was granted presidential immunity for conduct during the riot, Smith was forced to rework his original indictment. He nixed allegations and modified others to keep his case alive.
Smith narrowed allegations recast discussions between Trump and then-Vice President Mike Pence as being between candidates rather than government officials to circumvent the immunity issue. However, it seems even his most recent iteration is facing snags.
In Thursday's hearing, Trump's attorneys pleaded not guilty to the modified charges in the new indictment. Chutkan set new deadlines for paperwork rebuttals from federal prosecutors for Nov. 7, two days after Election Day.
The case Smith built is crumbling under legal scrutiny. In July, the Supreme Court decided 6-3 that Trump's conduct during the riot fell under presidential immunity, though the specifics of how that applied were not part of the majority opinion.
Smith had already pinned several charges on Trump, and the superseding indictment includes the same charges with some modifications. Trump was charged with conspiracy against rights, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, and obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding.
Trump was also implicated in a scheme to use false electors to sway the final vote. Smith asserted this was all done in Trump's attempt to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The new charges came from a grand jury that heard evidence different from the first convened for that purpose. The new indictment was defanged as Smith was forced to throw out certain allegations, including that Trump used the Justice Department to undo the election results.
It's highly unlikely that Trump will go to trial on these charges before the November election. This is a win for the Trump team heading into the presidential election and comes on the heels of another victory.
Trump received other good news this week after Judge Juan Merchan decided to delay his sentencing hearing until after the election. Trump was set to receive the sentence to his 34 felony convictions in his hush-money case on Sept. 18, a separate Fox News report noted.
The new date is set for Nov. 26, which Trump took as a positive sign. "The case was delayed because everyone realizes there was no case and I did nothing wrong," Trump said in an exclusive to Fox.
"It is a case that should never have been brought," he added. Trump said that "the public understands that, and so does every legal scholar that has looked at it and studied" his case.
"I greatly respect the words ‘if necessary’ being used in this decision because there should be no ‘if necessary.' The case should be dead," Trump added.
With both threats out of the way, it looks like smooth sailing until Election Day. Trump is the better man and better candidate, and now he's free from the legal threats that his opposition put in his way.
