Expert predicts Donald Trump's D.C. criminal trial could start as early as May
February 06, 2024
Former FBI general counsel and assistant U.S. attorney Andrew Weissmann thinks Donald Trump's case over the 2020 election and Jan. 6 could unfold in late May or early June if the Supreme Court refuses to hear the case.
Speaking about the recent ruling from the Washington, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, Weissmann explained that there was never any question about whether the court would block Trump's claims of absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for all presidents.
He said all the judges agreed they wouldn't hear any further requests from Trump to reconsider the ruling.
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"He has one avenue," Weissmann said of Trump, "which is to go to the Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court says, 'No, we are not hearing this case,' then we could be at trial by the end of May or the beginning of June. Judge [Tanya] Chutkan seems very clear that she wants to hold this case."
She had initially set the trial for March 4, but last week, Judge Chutkan knocked off the trial dates entirely, anticipating the appeals process would take longer.
Weissmann and Slate legal analyst Dahlia Lithwick discussed how they think the Supreme Court decision will unfold. Both agreed that the D.C. court was detailed and careful in its ruling and that it gives the Supreme Court cover if they don't want to take up the matter.
Weissmann said that even if the Supreme Court wanted to take it up so that there would be a ruling on the books about the matter, he anticipated it would get at least five justices striking down Trump's claim, "if not many more."
"So, on the one hand, they might be thinking we should really weigh in to make it clear this can't be done," he explained. "On the other hand, as Dahlia said, there is the concern that, if we do that, we are sort of de facto giving Donald Trump a win. In other words, we might be saying, you know what? No president is above the law, but in the course of saying that, we actually are de facto saying he is above the law because we're going to prevent a trial from actually happening before the election."
The overall concern is that if the trial doesn't happen before the 2024 election and Trump wins, he can fire the special counsel, demand the case be dropped, and it would simply disappear. Or he could eliminate it by pardoning himself.
"There's this irony that, if they wanted to say it, this is the perfect storm of the wrong case in which to say it," Weissmann continued. "I think that all else being equal, I think the D.C. decision is so strong, is unanimous, and I think there are signs that the other judges on the D.C. circuit were certainly aware of and did not disagree with this decision because of the statement that even if Donald Trump seeks to have a rehearing by the D.C. Circuit, that does not stay."
He called it a "real sense of resounding decision by the three judges, if not the whole court, that sends enough of a clear signal to any future president that this is the law."
Ultimately, he concludes, the Supreme Court probably won't take it up.
See the videos of Weissmann below or at the link here.
Part 1:
Part 2:
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