Jack Smith Gets Another Chance To Hurt Trump
Former President Donald Trump’s problems keep mounting, with reports suggesting Special Counsel Jack Smith will get another chance to hurt him legally.
Jack Smith has not allowed the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling to deter him from going after Trump.
The special counsel recently filed a superseding indictment against the former president in connection to the election subversion case. The superseding indictment contains the same accusation as the first but omitted actions that fall within Trump’s presidential duties.
According to the latest reports, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has given Smith another chance to release evidence against President Trump.
Chutkan, on Thursday, released a pre-trial schedule that allows Smith to file an opening brief on presidential immunity by September 26. The move, coming just weeks before the election, could hurt the president’s reelection bid.
Trump’s lawyer had previously argued that the debate surrounding the presidential immunity could wait until December. Chuktan, who had ruled against the former president’s team many times in the case, dismissed the argument. The judge insisted that the court was not concerned with the election schedule.
According to CBS News reporter Scott MacFarlane, Chucktan does not want to hear about the election during the case and has insisted she will not consider the election when deciding issues related to the case.
“She will work on a new schedule for this case,” MacFarlane wrote on X. “And release it ……. at some point in the future. Elections will not be a factor for her timing, per her multiple statements about the issue during these proceedings.”
Smith’s classified case against the former president was dismissed by District Court Judge Aileen Cannon after Trump’s attorney successfully argued that the special counsel’s appointment was unconstitutional.
According to Cannon’s ruling, Smith’s appointment violates the Constitution’s Appointments Clause and Appropriations Clause. The judge found that the special counsel’s appointment violates the role of Congress in the appointment of constitutional officers and authorizing expenditures by law.
However, Chuktan has refused to dismiss Smith’s case despite her colleague’s ruling. According to MacFarlane, Chuktan said she does not find Cannon’s ruling “very persuasive.”