Experts believe a Washington D.C. federal judge's order Thursday means former President Donald Trump's election subversion case could be "very active."
U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan said that Trump and his legal team would come back together with the Justice Department on Sept. 26 to kick the trial into overdrive.
Appearing in court Thursday, Chutkan vowed she would enter a scheduling order before the end of the day. She ultimately granted special counsel Jack Smith’s proposal to submit a “comprehensive” brief on Trump's immunity, including supporting evidence, by Sept. 26.
MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin explained on X, "That briefing will wrap up by late October, at which point she 'will determine whether further proceedings are necessary.'"
Former ethics czar, Norm Eisen, predicted that this "means we will have a very active docket in her court over the next 60 days."
"As we discussed in Just Security, the big fight will be over whether the VP [Mike] Pence allegations are official or unofficial - they're official, but it will be a brawl," Eisen also said.
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He also cited from the ruling, "Oct is gonna be dominated by that legal row w Trump's counter due on 10/17 and the govt's concluding brief due 10/29 That assures that the discussion of 1/6 and immunity will be loud in Oct 3."
"So immunity will be fully briefed ahead of the election - and now we're just waiting for Judge Merchan to tell us whether Donald will be sentenced 9/18. We should know shortly," said legal analyst Allison Gill, who co-hosts the "JACK" podcast about the federal Trump cases.
Chutkan commented on the 2024 election, saying she refused to allow politics to factor into the decision.
"Chutkan treats Trump like any other defendant, and orders simultaneous briefing on three issues: immunity, statutory grounds (meaning the new S Ct Fischer decision on the obstruction statute) and on appointment of the Special Counsel. All to be done in short order, regardless of politics and the political calendar," wrote former top Justice Department prosecutor Andrew Weissmann.
George Washington University School of Law, white-collar crime professor Randall Eliason cautioned, "Folks shouldn’t get too excited about seeing this evidence just yet - I expect a lot of it will need to be filed under seal, as confidential grand jury information.
Rubin later posted the question, "But returning to the immunity briefing, the biggest question for the public is whether any of the proverbial cards Smith is prepared to lay on the table will be available to us."
Sadly, she said, the answer "is an unsatisfying one, at least for now. We don’t know."
