Ex-federal prosecutor: DC Circuit could shave months off Trump delays with procedural move

Former President Donald Trump appears to be banking on gumming up the works of the US justice system with various tactics to delay his pending criminal trials until after the presidential election. However, his most high-profile appeal may come to a much shorter end than anticipated if the three-judge panel considering it chooses to do so.

In a Friday night appearance on MSNBC, Andrew Weissmann — a former assistant US Attorney who prosecuted organized crime cases — suggested the DC Circuit Court of Appeals panel currently weighing whether Trump enjoys absolute broad immunity as an ex-president could severely hamper Trump's delay strategy.

Weissmann argued that because "there are no merits" to the former president's "preposterous" and "childish" immunity arguments, that the case is actually "all about timing." He added that a 3-0 decision by the panel to rule against Trump was likely, and that an en banc motion (in which the full DC Circuit would consider the case) was as unlikely as the Supreme Court agreeing to take it up.

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"I've never been as convinced that the Supreme Court may take a pass on this as when I heard the oral argument, because it was so frivolous," Weissmann said. "[Trump] could be like, yeah, I'm losing the battle and winning the war, because the normal time period for an appeal is he gets to ask the full DC Circuit, within 45 days he can ask them to re-hear the case. Then he can also try and seek [writ of certiorari], that is, it goes to the Supreme Court. That's another 90 days."

"The DC Circuit has the power to shorten that up by basically saying, 'you know what? We're gonna give you 5 days then we're gonna send it back to Judge [Tanya] Chutkan," he continued. "If you do not get a stay from the Supreme Court, she goes forward."

This prompted host Chris Hayes to interject.

"I know this is like we're in the procedural weeds but I have to ask, can they bypass his en banc?" Hayes asked.

READ MORE: Chutkan slams Trump in latest ruling rejecting immunity argument: No 'divine right of kings'

"They essentially de facto can," Weissmann responded. "The three judges can't just say there's no en banc, they don't have that power. But they can say, in five days, we ruled as a panel that this goes back to Judge Chutkan. At that point, there has to be some sort of stay. So Donald Trump can try and get [a stay] from the en banc, he can try and get it from the Supreme Court, but he has to go somewhere. Because now, the default position is, in five days, [Chutkan] goes forward."

"So there's a timer, and it's ticking down," Hayes said.

Watch the video of Weissmann's segment below, or by clicking this link.