'Chaos': Experts say Trump's legal calendar made 'wacky' by Supreme Court's ruling
Legal analysts rushed to the internet and television cameras on Wednesday afternoon when the Supreme Court announced that they would take up Donald Trump's claims of presidential immunity.
Conservative retired judge Michael Luttig was aghast at the decision.
"Look, this is a momentous decision, just to hear this case," he said. "There was no reason in this world for the Supreme Court to take this case. The three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia had written a masterful opinion, denying the president's claims of absolute immunity, under the Constitution and the laws of the United States."
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He explained that never in history has there been an argument that a president is immune from prosecution for crimes.
Practically speaking, "The Supreme Court is capable of deciding this very quickly, in time that the former president could be tried, before the election. But today's decision makes that that much more unlikely."
"The Trump legal calendar just got wacky," national security lawyer Bradley Moss posted online. "Manhattan starts next month. Technically [the] Mar-a-Lago docs [case] is set for late May, but I expect that to be pushed to June. We’ll know more on Friday. That leaves the Georgia and DC election cases. SCOTUS likely won’t rule until mid-May. Chaos."
Legal analyst and podcaster Allison Gill said of the documents trial, "There is now a possibility that this trial will not happen before the election. SCOTUS could have scheduled a much faster briefing schedule as they have in the past, but they should have denied the stay. Disappointing for SCOTUS to undermine the rule of law."
Former Justice Department prosecutor Andrew Weissmann explained that it makes the trial dates closer to the election, but he expects the 2020 election trial in Washington, D.C., to be closer to July, if not later.
"So, you know, that is a shortened time frame," he began. "But just remember that does not mean they will issue a decision speedily after that. You know, we are still waiting for the decision with respect to the Colorado disqualification and for more bad news, so we don't know the time period after the oral argument, that they will render their ultimate decision."
Weissmann said that he still thinks there's no way they'll agree Trump is immune from criminal prosecution.
"But if they, let's say, took even two weeks to make that decision, that brings us into May," he continued. "They then say to Judge [Tanya] Chutkan, you can go forward. That's sort of the best-case scenario."
He explained that Chutkan has some pre-trial work to do as well.
"She has to pick a jury; she needs jury questionnaires. We're talking at the earliest a couple of months after that. So that brings us into July. So, perilously close to the election," said Weissmann.
Luttig said that it's a "de facto veto" over the case.
See the discussion among the legal analysts in the video below or click the link.
Supreme Court intervention in Trump immunity creates a 'wacky' calendar: Legal analysts www.youtube.com