The trial for former President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., over his alleged election interference has been postponed from March 4.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, an Obama appointee, announced that the trial date for the allegations brought forth by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith would be bumped with no future date yet set.
“The court will set a new schedule if and when the mandate is returned,” Chutkan said, referring to a bid from Trump to establish immunity from prosecution that is currently before an appeals court.
The March 4 start date had been heavily scrutinized because it was one day before Super Tuesday, when voters in Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Vermont are set to pick their choice for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Trump, the GOP frontrunner, has easily won the first two contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, and his only major challenger left is former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who trails him widely in her home state, according to recent polls.
The former president was charged in August with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and a conspiracy against rights.
Trump has maintained his innocence of all charges brought against him by the Justice Department. In October, his lawyers filed to dismiss the case by arguing that Trump’s actions were “within the heartland” of his “official duties.” The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals is currently looking at this immunity claim.
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Chutkan’s order came just hours after news broke that the verdict in Trump’s New York civil business fraud trial was delayed at least another week after Judge Arthur Engoron initially said that he would try to announce his final ruling by the end of January.
A spokesman for the New York State Office of Court Administration said that Engoron’s verdict is expected to come in early to mid-February, but he added that was a “rough estimate” and “subject to modifications,” CNBC reported. Closing arguments in the trial finished last week as New York Attorney General Letitia James seeks to fine Trump more than $370 million in a lawsuit alleging Trump misled over the value of his company’s assets in financial statements.
Trump has faced an onslaught of suits at the state and federal level, prompting him to spend tens of millions on legal fees as he attempts to mount a presidential campaign.