Trump’s lawyers spar with judge in Washington election interference case

A tense hearing has unfolded in one of former United States President Donald Trump’s four criminal cases, as his defence team questioned the legitimacy of the proceedings.

Thursday’s hearing took place before US District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, DC, where Trump faces four felony counts for attempting to overturn the 2020 US presidential election.

Trump himself was not present at the proceedings. But from the outset, defence lawyer John Lauro cast doubt on the validity of the charges and the timing of the case.

“We may be dealing with an illegitimate indictment from the get-go,” Lauro told the court.

He also asserted that a recent Supreme Court decision granting presumptive immunity to a range of presidential actions should result in the case’s outright dismissal.

“We want an orderly process that does justice to the Supreme Court opinion,” he said.

But it was Lauro’s suggestion that the court’s actions were unfair that sparked a sharp exchange with Judge Chutkan.

Lauro called the proceedings “enormously prejudicial” to Trump, who is currently running as the Republican nominee in the 2024 presidential election.

“This process is inherently unfair, particularly during this sensitive time,” Lauro told Chutkan.

The judge quickly shot back, saying her concern was only the four criminal counts in front of her court. “The timing of the election,” she explained, was “not relevant” to her decisions.

“This court is not concerned with the electoral schedule,” she said. “That’s not something I’m going to consider.”

Lauro pushed back throughout the hearing. “We’re talking about the presidency of the United States,” he said at one point.

But Chutkan was quick to tamp down that argument. “I’m not talking about the presidency of the United States. I’m talking about a four-count indictment,” she replied.

She questioned whether Trump’s defence team may be angling to delay the trial until after the election. Lauro, meanwhile, said prosecutors were “rushing to judgement” with their court filings.

Chutkan, however, dismissed any suggestion that the case was progressing too quickly.

“This case has been pending for over a year,” she said. “We’re hardly sprinting to the finish here.”

Thursday’s hearing was one of the first in nearly a year’s time, something Chutkan and Lauro joked about at the start of the day.

“Life was almost meaningless without seeing you,” Lauro in a lighthearted moment with the judge.

“Enjoy it while it lasts,” Chutkan responded.

The Washington, DC, criminal case had been delayed multiple times, as courts weighed the question of Trump’s immunity from prosecution. Trump had claimed “absolute” immunity for any action taken while he was president, from 2017 to 2021.

On July 1, the Supreme Court issued a decision, dismissing any claims to absolute immunity but nevertheless granting broad “presumptive immunity” to any “official” actions the president might take.

The decision itself did not clearly delineate what counts as an “official” or “unofficial” action, but it suggested that interactions with government officials like the vice president would be protected from prosecution.

The ruling was therefore seen as a broadening of presidential power, beyond what is established under the US Constitution.

In August, in response to the Supreme Court’s decision, the prosecution in the Washington, DC, case — led by Special Counsel Jack Smith — issued an updated indictment against Trump that zeroed in on actions it considered “unofficial”.

Those included actions Trump took as a presidential candidate in the 2020 election cycle, and actions taken by his re-election campaign.

The four counts Trump faces remain the same. He is accused of conspiracy to defraud the US, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, attempting to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy to prevent the free exercise of rights under the US Constitution.

Those charges stem from his actions after the 2020 election, which he lost to President Joe Biden, a Democrat. Trump repeatedly claimed that the result was “rigged”, and he and his allies are accused of pressuring election officials to change the outcome.

After he encouraged his supporters to continue fighting the results, thousands swarmed the US Capitol building, in an attempt to interrupt the certification of the Electoral College votes on January 6, 2021.

On Thursday, Trump’s defence team formally resubmitted his plea of not guilty to the superseding indictment. Trump has pleaded not guilty in all the criminal cases against him so far.

When Lauro, the defence lawyer, suggested that the recent Supreme Court case would nullify interactions included in the updated indictment, Chutkan was firm.

“No, they did not decide that,” she said. “I have to decide.”