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A day after getting the election subversion case against Donald Trump back, the presiding federal judge rejected another effort by the former president to have the case dismissed.
Earlier this summer, the Supreme Court granted Trump sweeping immunity for official acts as president, and the case, brought by special counsel Jack Smith, is now back in the hands of Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, DC.
On Saturday, Chutkan tossed out arguments by Trump’s attorneys that Smith was unfairly prosecuting the former president, noting that Trump’s alleged actions went far beyond merely questioning the results of the elections, as the former president has claimed.
“The court has already explained that ‘Defendant is not being prosecuted for publicly contesting the results of the election; he is being prosecuted for knowingly making false statements in furtherance of a criminal conspiracy and for obstruction of election certification proceedings,’” Chutkan wrote, citing a previous filing in the case.
Trump has long argued that he is being unfairly targeted by President Joe Biden and the Justice Department, who he claims are going after him for making sure the 2020 election was fair and above board.
The judge also found that Trump’s suggestions that Biden attempted to influence prosecutors was unfounded.
In her ruling Saturday, Chutkan rejected Trump’s arguments that the case in Washington was brought only because Trump pleaded not guilty to charges of mishandling classified information in Florida — a case that was recently dismissed.
“Defendant’s decision to enter a not guilty plea in Florida does not establish a realistic likelihood that this prosecution was vindictive,” Chutkan wrote.
Trump’s “constitutionally protected choice to proceed to trial in another matter did not prohibit the Special Counsel from pursuing criminal charges here, nor did it raise the red flag of vindictiveness,” the judge wrote.
“Moreover, the charges in this case appear unrelated to those brought against Defendant in the Southern District of Florida, where Defendant was indicted for the unauthorized retention of classified documents and related offenses after he left office,” Chutkan wrote. “Those offenses are extraneous to Defendant’s indicted conduct here—alleged efforts, towards the end of his Administration, to obstruct the electoral certification process.”
On Saturday, Chutkan also set a hearing for August 16 to consider how the case will now move forward.
