D.C. court sets tight appeal deadline in effort to keep Trump trial on track

The District of Columbia court clerk set a deadline for later this month for filing key paperwork in Donald Trump's effort to halt his prosecution.

Judge Tanya Chutkan denied his motion to dismiss charges filed against him by special counsel Jack Smith, and the court clerk then set a Dec. 26 deadline for his attorneys to file forms needed for him to appeal that ruling.

Trump's lawyers have already filed the notice of appearance form, which notes which attorneys will represent him in the appeal.

The former president's lawyers had argued that he should have been immune from charges for actions taken within the "outer perimeter" of his duties as chief executive, but Chutkan issued a 48-page order last week denying it, and Trump then filed seeking to halt all proceedings until his appeal had been decided.

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Chutkan swiftly followed that motion with a brief order giving prosecutors until Dec. 10 to file an opposition and then two days for Trump's lawyer to respond to their filing.

The new deadlines indicate that a ruling could come quickly enough to keep the trial on schedule for its March 2024 start.