The federal case against former President Donald Trump for allegedly plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election is headed back to a trial judge in Washington following the Supreme Court’s ruling last month limiting the scope of the prosecution.
It was formally sent back to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Friday for further proceedings on sorting out which of the acts Trump is charged with qualified “official acts” as laid out in the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling creating some presidential immunity.
While sending the case back to the district court is likely to restart a flurry of activity in filings, motions and hearings, it is still highly unlikely the case will reach a trial before the November election where the former president is the Republican nominee for the third consecutive cycle.
Trump is charged with four felony counts in the case that accuses him of conspiring to cling to power by working with aides and others to undo the results of then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s victory. The case has been stalled for months amid Trump’s legal team’s appeals and awaiting the Supreme Court to weigh in on the case.
The high court issued a blow to prosecutors last month in a ruling that gave presidents absolute immunity from prosecution for core constitutional duties and presumptive immunity for other “official acts.” Chutkan will have to decide how the high court opinion applies to the case.
Along with potentially derailing special counsel Jack Smith’s case against him, it has also thrown uncertainty into the other three criminal trials Trump is facing. His conviction in New York is being appealed after his attorneys argued the immunity ruling should set the conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records aside. The judge has delayed a sentencing hearing and is expected to rule on it next month.
His classified documents case in Florida is also on hold after a separate judge threw it out after determining Smith’s appointment as a special counsel was illegal. Her ruling is being appealed but the case will not make it to trial prior to Nov. 5 regardless of the results.