After a fair bit of grumbling from the former president’s defense attorneys, DC Judge Tanya Chutkan set Uncle Donnie’s trial date for March 4, 2024.
Trump faces four charges of fantastical garbage associated with the Great American Rorschach Test of January 6th, 2021. His attorneys wanted to push the trial out until 2026, while Molly Gaston argued that Special Counsel Jack Smith and the rest of the taxpayer-funded government could be ready in two weeks.
As per usual at the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, D.C., no cameras or photography was permitted inside, and non-corporate coverage of the proceedings was severely lacking.
Thank goodness the Washington Post was in town because I’m told that democracy dies in darkness and stuff.
Before the proceeding began, Brandi Buchman exercised her intuitive genius — guessing that Chutkan would push for “February or early March.”
If I had to guess, I would wager that Judge Chutkan will set a trial date in late February or early March.
— Brandi Buchman (@Brandi_Buchman) August 28, 2023
Buchman further reported that Judge Chutkan was “wearing a bright blue blouse beneath her black robes, I spy from the collar.” The color of Judge Chutkan’s underwear remains unreported, however.
NBC’s Ryan Reilly reported that the main point of contention is the voluminous amount of discovery material.
Approximately 61 percent, or 7.8 million pages, are pages that came from entities associated with the defendant.
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) August 28, 2023
What is in the other 5 million pages? Example: Every grand jury transcript in this case up until indictment. There's a lot of duplicative material, Gaston says.
While Trump’s attorneys argued that they needed until 2026 to prepare their case, the government boasted that they’d provided a roadmap for the defense in an unprecedented gesture of helpful consideration for the beleaguered former president and accused insurrectionist in chief.
"It is essentially a roadmap to our case," Gaston says.
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 28, 2023
She adds: "We identiifed material that we agree is arguably favorable to the defendant."
Trump’s defense attorney, John Lauro, reportedly countered Judge Chutkan’s assertion that the government is bending over backward and doing cartwheels for a fair trial.
He explained that the government was looking for a show trial.
LAURO starts out angry, saying prosecutors are proposing a "show trial" not a "speedy trial."
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 28, 2023
After he raises his voice a few times, Chutkan tells him to "take the temperature down." But then she lets him go on.
*There is no word if Special Counsel prosecutors have yet contacted the producers of the January 6th Select Committee for direct assistance.
After Judge Chutkan lowered the “temperature” in the room, another round of back and forth ensued — culminating in Gaston’s explanation that a trial must be held as soon as possible to prevent any mean tweets from the big, bad Orange Menace.
GASTON says the urgency of a speedy trial is particularly strong here because Trump posts about the case daily, attacking witnesses, the court and DC itself — which could taint the jury pool.
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 28, 2023
Chutkan then took a ten-minute recess to probably adjust her blouse and powder her nose before returning to render her decision. As predicted by Brandi “Nostradamus” Buchman, Chutkan set trial right in the middle — between government and defense recommendations.
Strangely enough, for a trial dealing with allegations of election interference, Chutkan’s ordered date will be right in the middle of the primary season. Surely, it’s just a coincidence.
The internet told me this case has nothing to do with politics. The District of Columbia District Court is unbiased and fair — wise and judicious in every way.
Eighty-one million votes made sure of it.
