Judge Chutkan has a good shot at a Trump trial even if he is re-elected: experts
Appearing on CNN on July 4th, two attorneys said a reported Justice Department decision to pursue criminal charges against Donald Trump even if he is re-elected in November could result in a trial and possibly a conviction before he is sworn in in January.
Speaking with holiday fill-in host Yamiche Alcindor, legal analyst Terri Austin and defense attorney Misty Marris claimed they expect the DOJ to go "full steam ahead" and try and get a conviction which could complicate Inauguration Day.
"We're in uncharted territory, but this is certainly a valid argument that the government is raising, and the prosecutors are raising because the president-elect is not the commander in chief until the inauguration," Marris told the CNN host. "That's January 20th. And so based on the DOJ rules that apply to a sitting president, there is that technicality that in between election day and Inauguration Day, these cases can maintain and go full speed ahead, even though Inauguration Day is coming up."
"There is a valid argument there for prosecutors to continue these cases," she added. before cautioning, "Now, again, because we're in uncharted territory, of course, you would see the defense side challenging that and making the argument that even though the president-elect is not technically the president of the United States until inaugurated, he does take on some aspects of the presidency during that time frame like security clearances, participates in briefings, so that's enough to preclude him from being prosecuted during that time frame. Those will be the two arguments that will be set forth."
That led Austin to add, "Don't forget, we have the New York [hush money] case, and we could have a sentence before the inauguration date in that case, and I think we will have a sentence before Inauguration Day."
She continued, "Because, as I said, I think many of those counts, all of the counts will stand, and at some point there will be a sentence that's given, and there's just an adjournment to that to determine which of the evidence will be out. That's going to stand."
"I think, as far as the D.C. case is concerned, we already know Judge Chutkan, she has really sped this case along. She does not like delay, and I think she's going to have an expedited hearing, which is a mini-trial. You're going to see the prosecution there; [special counsel] Jack Smith, they are going to put in as much evidence as possible. All the cards are on the table here. He wants to demonstrate, no question about it that these acts are not official acts. If they are official acts, the presumptive is that they don't have immunity and he can prove that that's the case," she elaborated.
"So I think that that's going to be done quickly, and I think we will be able to get a trial even before inauguration. It will be fast-tracked, but I think that's possible," she added.
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