MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin on Friday voiced apprehension regarding the potential delay in reaching a verdict for former President Donald Trump’s presidential immunity appeal in time for the upcoming election.
Trump has claimed he has presidential immunity from prosecution in his election interference case but District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected his bid to dismiss the case on this basis on Dec. 1. The trial was slated for March 4 but the proceedings are on hold as Trump appeals Chutkan’s ruling, prompting MSNBC legal analysts to express concerns about the possibility of obtaining a ruling ahead of the election. (RELATED: You May Have Missed It, But Trump Just Got A Few Massive Boosts Last Month)
Rubin told MSNBC’s Katy Tur the delay is not unusual because appeals can take varied lengths of time.
“I did some math for you. I looked at some D.C. circuit opinions that are fairly recent involving the former president to determine, even in important cases involving him, is this fast or slow?” Rubin told Tur. “So let’s do some comparisons for a second. The gag order appeal when Judge Tanya Chutkan also put a gag order on former President Trump, it took between oral argument and the decision 18 days. Obviously we’re in excess of that now.”
On Thursday, when Trump asks SCOTUS to reverse the CO Supreme Court’s ruling that he is ineligible to run for president under the 14th Amendment, he’ll be represented by Jonathan Mitchell, a former Scalia clerk & TX Solicitor General. But that’s not why you know him. 1/ https://t.co/yJIUjeZWtY
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) February 5, 2024
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on Trump’s appeal Jan. 9 and has not yet issued a decision. The March 4 date is no longer scheduled to take place as Judge Chutkan vacated it on Friday.
“When Trump was litigating with the January 6th committee … the number of days between when there was oral argument on the question of executive privilege when the January 6th committee wanted his materials and Trump was saying, ‘even though I’m no longer president, I’m still entitled to a certain executive privilege,’ that was 10 days,” Rubin said.
BREAKING: The trial for Donald Trump’s federal election interference has been postponed indefinitely.
Judge Tanya Chutkan vacated the March 4th start date, pending the DC appeals court ruling on whether Trump has any presidential immunity from the charges. pic.twitter.com/1KKiW69eWO
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) February 2, 2024
“However, when the D.C. circuit decided this question of civil immunity that you and I were just talking about a few moments ago, again not an expedited decision, but it took them almost a year from the oral argument to render a decision. So that shows how long sometimes appeals courts can take when they’re deliberating,” she explained.
MSNBC’s legal analysts on Sunday told Jen Psaki that they were freaking out about the possibility of the delay in the trial leading to a Trump victory. Tur asked Rubin if she was in agreement with these analysts.
“I’m getting increasingly panicked as the days go on, but I’m not yet freaking the freak out,” Rubin answered.
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