U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered Friday that a federal case charging former President Donald Trump with election subversion would be postponed. What does this mean for his ongoing presidential campaign?
According to CNN, the case has been postponed “because of ongoing appeals about the power of the presidency,” referring to the Trump camp’s argument that presidential immunity applies to his actions on the day of the Capitol Riot on Jan. 6, 2021. It would have started March 4, and Audacy reported this week on rumors that Trump is privately convinced he will be convicted.
Although Chutkan and Trump have clashed in the past, the judge’s recent order is a win – at least at the moment – for the GOP frontrunner. He has reportedly worked to postpone the case until after the 2024 election.
This case is just one of four that brought criminal charges against Trump last year. Forbes reported this week that Trump’s “classified documents case is also widely expected to be delayed past its scheduled May start date,” and a trial date for the Georgia election trial has not been set yet.
Recently, Fulton County Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis, who brought charges against Trump in the Georgia case, has been embroiled in her own controversy regarding an alleged affair. Trump lashed out at Willis and other officials who have brought charges against him in a Saturday Truth Social post.
Judges in some states have already ruled that Trump’s actions regarding the 2020 election (which he lost to current President Joe Biden) should prevent him from appearing on ballots. Also, more charges against Trump could eventually land him in prison.
The other case he faces is a hush money case out of Manhattan. There, a jury recently ruled against Trump in the E. Jean Carroll case.
Forbes said the hush money case is scheduled to go to trial March 26 and no delays are expected. While the 34 felony counts he faces for falsifying business records are punishable by up to 136 years in prison, legal experts believe it is unlikely that this case would actually result in jail time for the former president.
As things stand, it doesn’t look like Trump will be headed to jail in the near future. Still, there’s the question of how voters are feeling about things as Trump’s legal challenges progress.
Gallup polling results released recently indicate that less than a third of Americans are willing to vote for a person convicted of a felony. However, that poll also found that the same percentage of people were unwilling to vote for a person over 80 years old (Biden is 81 and Trump is 75) and Yahoo/YouGov poll also found that the hush money case is the least likely to impact voters.