Judge Tanya Chutkan continues to counteract Donald Trump’s attempts to slow his election interference case in DC. Starting from the moment the indictment was filed, Trump publicly voiced his intention to assert an advice of counsel defense. His lawyer John Lauro reiterated this in numerous public statements like on August 6 when he informed NBC’s Meet the Press that Trump was indicted for “following legal advice from an esteemed scholar, John Eastman.”
Simultaneously, several witnesses were invoking attorney-client privilege regarding their communication with the ex-president, a privilege that would need to be waived if Trump decides to claim advice of counsel. Hence, the special counsel motioned to compel disclosure of Trump’s intent to assert the defense by December 18 when the exhibit lists are due. The rationale behind this move was that any delay in asserting this defense until the trial would deprive the government of the chance to bring those witnesses in for deposition.
As was often the case, Trump reacted with incredulity at the government’s request that the Court depart from usual order, and invent a new set of rules that would require him but not the prosecution to provide detailed descriptions of core defense work product two and a half months before trial.
Not giving in to this request, Judge Chutkan ordered Trump to disclose his intentions on January 15, disregarding the request for the extension of the process of disclosing what advice and which counsel. It should also be noted that the court did not pay heed to the “informal” footnote, rather focusing on issuing an order that would compel Trump to state his intentions in a relatively timely manner and abide by a schedule he’s already agreed to.
The case now moves forward, with four pending motions to dismiss along with several miscellaneous filings aimed at slowing down this case and postponing it until after the 2024 election.
United States v. Trump [DDC Docket via Court Listener]