WASHINGTON (NEWSnet/AP) — Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference case in Washington once appeared likely to have a March 4 trial date.

But legal questions central to the case are threatening to change that; and U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan put the case on hold Wednesday while Trump pursues his claim in higher courts that he is immune from prosecution.

As a result, the trial, which is was set in the midst of presidential primary season, might be delayed into general election campaign season. And at this point, Trump is still considered a front-runner among the Republican party candidates as he seeks a return to the White House.

Key matters that could affect the trial date include:

Supreme Court Considering Status of Obstruction Charges

 

Trump is among those accused with obstruction of an official proceeding pertaining to the joint session of Congress held Jan. 6 to certify Democrat Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential election.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it would consider a case challenging the use of the obstruction charge against a former police officer who joined the mob at the Capitol.

Under the Supreme Court’s normal schedule, the justices would not hear arguments on the case until late March or April.

Is a Former President Immune from Federal Prosecution?

 

In addition to taking up the obstruction statute, the Supreme Court is also being asked to consider a question of immunity, which has even more direct impact on the Trump case.

Chutkan rejected the Trump team’s arguments that an ex-president could not be prosecuted over acts that fall within the official duties of the job.

After Trump’s lawyers appealed, special counsel Jack Smith’s team sought a quick, once-and-for-all resolution, asking the Supreme Court this week to not only consider that question but to fast-track a decision so the case can continue along the current schedule.

The Supreme Court has said it would decide quickly whether or not it will hear the case. In the meantime, Smith’s team also asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to expedite a decision of its own on presidential immunity.

That appeals court late Wednesday agreed to expedite the case, setting deadlines for briefs to be filed between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2. But the appeals court has yet to set a date for when it will hear arguments.

Court Schedules on Other Trump Cases

 

Another criminal case brought by Smith charges Trump with illegally hoarding classified documents at his Florida estate and obstructing FBI efforts to get them back. The trial is currently scheduled for May 20.

A separate case on charges that Trump falsified business records in connection with hush money payments to a porn actress is set to go to trial on March 25 in New York state court, but that date isn’t set in stone either.

No trial date has been set in Fulton County, Georgia, where the district attorney’s office has charged Trump with trying to subvert that state’s election in 2020.

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