Chutkan Orders Jack Smith To Cease Filing Pretrial Motions
Former President Donald Trump’s sensible request that special counsel Jack Smith be held in contempt was predictably denied, but U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan granted another facet of his filing.
She wrote a six-page order instructing Smith and all parties to “not file any substantive pretrial motions without first seeking leave of the court.” This came after the special counsel made filings during the current pause in the case.
It is on hold pending an appellate court decision on Trump’s presidential immunity.
In December, Chutkan paused the case and stated that the action did not “unambiguously forbid” further government filings. She said at that point that prosecutors had by and large complied with the order.
That apparently changed recently. The judge clarified that her order last month “appears to have been interpreted differently” by the warring sides and needed her clarification.
Trump’s camp argued against Smith filing additional motions during the pause to bar the 45th president from making specific arguments in court. The judge seemed hesitant to prohibit Trump’s defense team from doing their jobs.
She wrote, “diligent defense counsel will need to conduct a preliminary review of each substantive motion the Government files in order to know whether they need to take further action. While this is not a major burden, it is a cognizable one.”
Chutkan continued and agreed with the defense recommendation that no further motions may be filed while the court proceedings are paused.
This means both parties will need the court’s consent to file motions until the case again moves forward — if it does. Each would be compelled to prove that their action “is ancillary to the pending appeal and so requires a timely response or other action before the mandate is returned.”
Trump’s attorneys further argued that Smith should cover the 2024 Republican frontrunner’s legal costs for preparing and filing the brief requesting Chutkan to act.
He appeared last week before an appeals court panel of judges and argued for his immunity. The jurists seemed largely skeptical, and there is little hope that a favorable ruling for Trump will emerge.
That will undoubtedly lead to an appeal to the Supreme Court, which will in all likelihood make the final decision.
