The Supreme Court has just thrown a wrench into Jack Smith's 2024 plans

The Supreme Court on Wednesday accepted a case that could further complicate special counsel Jack Smith's schedule to try former President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., on charges stemming from his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Justices agreed Wednesday to take up a case challenging the scope of a statute of limitations that has been used to indict hundreds of defendants since Jan. 6, along with the former president. The statuteSection 1512(c)(2), is related to two of the four charges Smith brought against Trump in his indictment.

With two key charges at stake, Trump's March 4 trial date looks increasingly unlikely, despite Smith's best efforts to keep it.

“SCOTUS's decision today to accept the appeal of the 1512 'obstruction of official proceedings' case means that the Trump DC case will not go to trial,” attorney and former federal prosecutor Bill Shipley. he wrote on Twitter. “This is the easy way to make it happen without directly acting on the Trump case in an expedited manner.”

The accusation alleges that Trump perpetrated “a conspiracy to corruptly obstruct and obstruct the proceedings in Congress on January 6th in which the collected results of the presidential election are counted and certified.”

Smith has struggled for the past week to keep the schedule on track amid Trump's appeal to Judge Tanya Chutkan. negative dismiss his case based on presidential immunity. After appealing to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, Trump filed a motion to freeze all proceedings in the district court, which Smith opposed in a submission urging Chutkan to keep the March 4 date.

Smith also asked the Supreme Court on Monday to address the question before the D.C. Circuit decides. The superior court agreed to speed up consideration of his request, asking Trump's lawyers to intervene by December 20.

Trump's lawyers he wrote On Tuesday, Smith's statements in opposition to the stay of proceedings revealed that his only goal is to prevent Trump from winning the 2024 election by precipitating an “unconstitutional and fundamentally unfair trial.”

Trials for charges Trump faces in other cases are also coming up more and more unlikely to conclude before the elections. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who is overseeing Trump's federal trial for alleged mishandling of classified documents in Florida, has expressed a willingness to postpone the May 2024 trial date, setting a schedule. conference for March 1 to review the former president's request to postpone it. Smith, who also brought charges against Trump in that case, has also done so opposed Trump's efforts to delay the trial date.

Similarly, the judge overseeing Trump's trial in Manhattan for allegedly falsifying business records sent a letter to Trump's lawyers in September saying he would consider moving the date, currently set for March 2024, to February. seconds in the New York Times.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who filed a sweeping indictment under Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) against Trump and 18 co-defendants, has said the trial may not conclude until early 2025.

Katelynn Richardson's latest posts (see everything)

We have zero tolerance for comments that contain violence, racism, profanity, profanity, doxing, or rude behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it, click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for engaging with us in a fruitful conversation.

JOIN OUR NEW COMMENT SYSTEM! We love hearing from our readers and invite you to join us for feedback and good conversation. If you've commented with us before, we'll need you to re-enter your email address for this. The public won't see it and we won't share it.