Jack Smith’s team urges federal judge to stick with Trump’s March 2024 trial date

Facing four criminal indictments, former President Donald Trump and his lawyers have been pushing for delays in his upcoming trials. Two of the indictments are federal cases being prosecuted by special counsel Jack Smith for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

Trump's critics have been warning that if he wins the 2024 GOP presidential nomination and defeats President Joe Biden in the general election, he could issue self-pardons in the federal cases after returning to the White House in January 2025.

But Smith's office, according to Politico reporters Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney, is urging Judge Tanya Chutkan to stick with the March 4, 2024 trial date in the election interference case that Smith is prosecuting.

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In a court filing on Sunday, December 10, Molly Gaston and Thomas Windom — both senior assistant special counsels for Smith — told Chutkan, "In light of the public's strong interest in a prompt trial, the Government will seek to ensure that the trial proceeds as scheduled."

Gerstein and Cheney explain, "The outcome of this fight may determine whether Trump faces any of his four pending criminal trials in 2024. His other three remain in flux or unscheduled. And if the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court consider the former president's immunity claims on their typical timelines, that may force Chutkan to slow down her own."

Smith's team, according to Gerstein and Cheney, "pleaded with Chutkan not to alter the March 4 date" but "appeared to concede that Trump's defense won't be obliged to respond to most legal issues in the case while his appeal claiming presidential immunity is pending at the D.C. Circuit."

"In the case filed in August, Trump faces four charges related to his bid to subvert the 2020 election, including allegations that he conspired to disenfranchise millions of voters and obstruct congressional proceedings," Gerstein and Cheney note. "Trump claims he's immune from prosecution because the bulk of the case relates to his official duties as president. Chutkan sharply rejected that contention in a significant ruling last month, but the D.C. Circuit or the Supreme Court will have the final word on whether Trump is immune."

READ MORE: Trump's Georgia attorney argues he shouldn't be tried until 2029 if he wins the election

Politico's full report is available at this link.