First up: Judge Chutkan takes up Trump's motion to exclude the past 25 days from the "speedy trial" clock in this case. (The 25 days between arraignment and .... today)
Motion granted. The 25 days between the arraignment and today are excluded from speedy trial clock in case
Now... hearing shifts to the big matter: Trial date
Judge Chutkan details the recommendations
Jack Smith wants January 2, 2024 trial date.. estimate 4-6 weeks for making the case
Defense seeks April 2026 trial date and can't yet estimate how long it'll take
"These proposals are obviously very far apart," judge says
!! Judge Chutkan: Neither of the proposed trial dates is acceptable
Judge Chutkan: "Setting a trial date should not depend on a person's professional obligations. Mr Trump will have to make this work.. regardless of his schedule"
Source: Scott MacFarlane
Judge says "speedy trial" rights not only protect defendant.... but the "public interest" too
"Public has an interest in the fair and timely administration of justice"
Judge: "Delay is not an uncommon defense tactic" in federal criminal justice system
Citing past cases.... Judge says counsel is entitled to reasonable, not "unlimited" time to prepare
Judge says she's aware of other Trump cases.. and the dates in those cases
Judge Chutkan calls forward defense attorney John Lauro.. to confirm Lauro does NOT represent Trump in the other cases
Lauro acknowledges he does NOT represent Trump in other cases... but says his co-counsel *does*... and he calls defense "a team effort"
Judge says defense hasn't identified ANY other cases in DC in which TWO YEARS was given before trial, in which there were no co-defendants
She also criticizes other cases cited by defense when they sought 2026 trial date... she says *those* cases happened during COVID slowdowns
Now Judge Chutkan is talking about the paperwork "burden" argued made by Trump defense, in seeking 2026 trial date
This defense argument ====>
Judge asks Special counsel attorney (Molly Gaston) about paperwork/evidence sharing
Gaston: "Discovery is at approximately at 12.8 million pages" .... shared in 5 different productions
The 12.8 million pages include items from Jan 6 Select Committee, US Secret Service, National Archives, grand jury materials
The special counsel prosecutor (Gaston) has said the process of sharing the evidence with Trump defense team is "substantially complete"
Tens of thousands of the pages are from witness interviews..... and audio recordings of the interviews were also provided to defense
Judge asked how much of the evidence was created by Trump... such as tweets
Prosecutor doesn't have that info immediately available, she says
Judge: "The matter in which the discovery in this case has been organized" shows "considerable effort" by the prosecutors
When asked by judge about discovery, defense lawyer John Lauro says: "Mr. Trump...... President Trump .. is entitled to a fair trial"
He then calls it a "show trial"
He's speak quite loudly... nearly yelling
Defense attorney tells judge the proposed trial date from prosecutors: "Is absurd... it's a violation of the oath to do justice"
Judge urges defense to "take the temperature down a bit"
Lauro is blasting past some attempts by Judge Chutkan to interject .. as he continues to rail against proposed trial date
Defense: "This man's liberty and life is at stake. He deserves adequate representation"
Volume is increasing. Judge again attempts (unsuccessfully) to interject
!!! Judge Chutkan to defense: "You're not going to get two more years. This case is not going to trial in 2026"
Judge: "Given that Mr. Trump likely knows most of the witnesses the government would call.... (some) may be staff and associates... why would the defense need 2 years to investigate?"
Defense: There was no obligation to begin defense during the grand jury probe
Defense: "We can't be charged and hindered because we didn't do an investigation during the grand jury" procedure
"This is an enormous, overwhelming task. We have two small law firms working around the clock"
Lauro has made SEVERAL uses of the term "miscarriage of justice".. about timing of this case
Judge: "I intend to ensure he gets a (fair trial). But this case isn't going to trial in 2026."
Judge Chutkan: "He has a right to a fair trial. But what is a fair amount of time to prepare. The 12 million pages are not truly indicative of the time he needs to prepare"
She calls some of the documents "duplicative" .. "doesn't need to take 2 years"
It's noticeable how Trump's defense attorney is speaking over the judge .. in multiple exchanges during this argument
Defense: "This is a question of whether one man, one United States citizen, gets a fair trial"
Judge Chutkan is a former trial attorney. As Lauro talks about the lengths of time needed for him to review all of the grand jury transcripts and witness statements....
Judge interjects to say: We know that isn't a big a universe of documents as you're arguing
!! Judge to defense: "You and I have a very different" estimate of the time needed to prepare for trial
Defense says they're going to raise the issue of "executive immunity" and will question whether this court even has jurisdiction in case. "We're going to have a very, very unique and extensive motion that deals with executive immunity"
@TheNewsOwl They're going to literally play the Nixon card? Let's see how that works out for them.