Judge Tanya Chutkan, overseeing Jack Smith’s January 6 case against former President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., formally postponed the trial on Friday.
Chutkan reportedly postponed the trial and told the prospective jurors who were asked to fill out a pre-trial questionnaire not to appear in court next week.
Trump’s lawyers said that Trump is immune from federal prosecution for alleged “crimes” committed while he served as president.
“In 234 years of American history, no president ever faced criminal prosecution for his official acts. Until 19 days ago, no court had ever addressed whether immunity from such prosecution exists,” Trump’s lawyers wrote, according to CBS News. “To this day, no appellate court has addressed it. The question stands among the most complex, intricate, and momentous issues that this Court will be called on to decide.”
If the DC Circuit Court of Appeals says that Trump does not have presidential immunity, the former president will likely ask for an en banc hearing, or a request for the court’s entire slate of 11 judges to make a decision.
