TPM reporter Emine Yücel was at the federal courthouse in D.C. this morning, where U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan set the trial date for Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 case against Donald Trump and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. She fed me information from the courthouse which I unpacked below.
Smith’s team had requested a January starting date arguing it is important for the case to be resolved before the upcoming presidential election, in which Trump is currently the leading candidate for the Republican Party. Trump’s team committed to dragging things out and argued in support of an absurd April 2026 starting date during Monday’s hearing.
Chutkan had previously shown interest in moving the case along quickly, but it was unclear if she would agree with prosecutors and allow the case to move forward alongside Trump’s trial in Florida related to his handling of classified records. At the end of Monday’s hearing she set the trial date for March 4, 2024, the same date that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis proposed for her case to begin trial.
Catch up on our live coverage below:
TPM reporter Emine Yücel was at the federal courthouse in D.C. this morning, where U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan set the trial date for Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 case against Donald Trump and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. She fed me information from the courthouse which I unpacked below.
Smith’s team had requested a January starting date arguing it is important for the case to be resolved before the upcoming presidential election, in which Trump is currently the leading candidate for the Republican Party. Trump’s team committed to dragging things out and argued in support of an absurd April 2026 starting date during Monday’s hearing.
Chutkan had previously shown interest in moving the case along quickly, but it was unclear if she would agree with prosecutors and allow the case to move forward alongside Trump’s trial in Florida related to his handling of classified records. At the end of Monday’s hearing she set the trial date for March 4, 2024, the same date that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis proposed for her case to begin trial.
Catch up on our live coverage below:
Fatso has FOUR attorneys at this hearing??
Judge Chutkan seems to be using her experience as a defense attorney to ensure TFG won’t have a successful appeal of his conviction in her court.
What’s that work out to? $2000 to $4000 an hour? Well, no problem; his
supporterssuckers can afford it.No wonder he had to use a bailbondsman to pay his $200,000 bond