BREAKING: Judge CHUTKAN has *denied* Trump's motion to dismiss his criminal charges based on a claim of "presidential immunity. ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_p…
"Defendant’s four-year service as Commander in Chief did not bestow on him the divine right of kings to evade the criminal accountability that governs his fellow citizens." ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_p…
Trump's charges in the Washington D.C. case do not violate the First Amendment because "it is well established that the First Amendment does not protect speech that is used as an instrument of a crime," Chutkan rules.
NEWS: The constitution does *not* preclude Trump from being prosecuted for trying to subvert the 2020 election, Judge Chutkan rules. In fact, the charges he's facing are precisely the kind George Washington warned of, she says.
Chutkan has now developed something of a habit of telling Donald Trump he is not a king, as she did in her ruling granting the Jan. 6 committee access to his White House records from NARA. politico.com/news/2023/12/0…
This ruling is certain to be appealed and all but certain to reach the Supreme Court. It's the most difficult test of Jack SMith's D.C. indictment and will likely determine whether Trump faces trial at all ahead of the 2024 election.
Chutkan twice cited the hours-old appeals court decision finding Trump can be sued for claims that his Jan. 6 speech at the Ellipse incited violence at the Capitol.
MORE: Chutkan’s relatively swift ruling on this extremely tricky constitutional question is aligned with special counsel Smith’s plea that she act on the immunity question quickly — since it’s one of the few issues Trump can appeal pretrial.
The House is free to express its disapproval of the Jan. 6 committee anytime, but this notion they will simply rescind the subpoenas or contempt votes of an earlier Congress — and that it will have some meaningful legal effect — is fanciful.
It’s become a litmus test on the right in recent weeks. But whether a contempt occurred in an earlier Congress is up to that Congress. It would be a form of legal chaos to allow Congresses years or decades later to try to unravel prior contempts that were already prosecuted.
For context: This has become a rallying call on the right, particularly since Judge Nichols ordered Steve Bannon to prison by July 1. Some candidates and members are openly promising to do this, as though it has some practical effect.
👀 Justice MERCHAN has notified the parties in Trump's case that a stray comment was posted on the NY court system's Facebook page on May 29, a day before Trump's conviction.
It does seem likely to be a fake — but Merchan didn’t indicate one way or the other whether he considered it serious. May have been sharing out of an abundance of caution in case others saw the screenshot.
BREAKING: Steve Bannon has been ordered to surrender to prison by July 1. Judge Nichols has revoked his bail.
Bannon’s sentence for defying the Jan. 6 committee’s subpoena has been on hold while he appealed. Today, Judge Nichols (a Trump appointee) ruled that the original reasons for staying the sentence no longer be er applied.
Bannon’s sentence would run through early November.
BANNON and his lawyer David Schoen are speaking to press now.
HAPPENING NOW: The jury has signaled it has a note for the judge, so everyone is reconvening for an update. Unclear what the subject is.
I've seen some quick verdicts in cases, but that would be a shocker here. I've also seen juries deliberate for hours before sending a note that makes it sound like they've barely scratched the surface and maybe need troubleshooting help accessing evidence.
MERCHAN says the note came in at 2:56. It contains 4 requests.
1) Pecker's testimony re phone call with Trump 2) Pecker's testimoyn regarding decision not to finalize and fund McDougal's life rights 3) Pecker's testimony onTrump Tower meeting 4) Cohen on Trump Tower meeting
JUST IN: Unsealed filing in Trump Florida case says there were two rounds of classified documents discovered at Mar-a-Lago *after* the FBI search. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
Judge HOWELL also found last year that prosecutors provided sufficient evidence that Trump sought to hide classified documents from prosceutors. It was part of her ruling granting crime-fraud exception to attorney-client privilege. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
This entire opinion from Judge Howell assessing the evidence prosecutors presented on Trump's "willful retention" of classified docs and efforts to obstruct the probe is extraordinary.
She described Nauta as "dissembling" in his FBI interview as well.
HAPPENING NOW: Trump lawyers and prosecutors began the day with a lengthy sidebar with Justice Merchan, unclear on whaat subject. Cohen cross-examination to resume imminently. politico.com/trumptrial
NEW: Bob Costello, a longtime Giuliani attorney and potential Trump defense witness, used yesterday's trial off-day to savage Michael Cohen in testimony to Congress.
Cohen has accused Costello of being part of a Trump-backed effort to pressure him against "flipping" politico.com/live-updates/2…
COSTELLO said Cohen repeatedly told him in 2018 that he had no evidence to incriminate Trump. Cohen testified Tuesday that he didn't tell Costello what he knew because he didn't trust him. politico.com/live-updates/2…