Washington
CNN
 — 

At Thursday’s listening to within the federal election subversion case in opposition to Donald Trump – the primary continuing earlier than Decide Tanya Chutkan for the reason that Supreme Court docket granted him some immunity within the prosecution – the trial choose didn’t finalize a schedule for the subsequent steps within the case, however previewed her pondering on how the case ought to advance.

She was skeptical of the Trump crew’s request that she first resolve whether or not the then-Vice President Mike Pence-related allegations within the indictment had been immune, and Chutkan repeatedly pressured the discretion she believes she has for a way she constructions the proceedings in her courtroom.

Although Thursday’s one-hour-and-15-minute listening to was primarily about course of, a pointy back-and-forth she had with a Trump legal professional introduced consideration to how the 2024 election is looming over the case.

Listed below are takeaways from the listening to:

The choose didn’t concern a ruling from the bench however mentioned she deliberate to place ahead a scheduling order as quickly as doable, which she mentioned might be later Thursday.

That might lay out the steps within the case that can play out earlier than the November election.

Throughout Thursday’s listening to, prosecutors defined why they need the possibility to file a gap temporary that may argue why they imagine their new indictment complies with the Supreme Court docket’s immunity ruling. Trump’s attorneys argued in opposition to that and proposed an extended schedule.

Chutkan pushed prosecutor Thomas Windom for dates on how shortly the particular counsel’s workplace might file the temporary they proposed defending the brand new indictment.

Windom deferred to the choose – not placing on the document a date itself – whereas telling the choose they would wish two to 3 weeks, which means the top of this month.

“We do even have to put in writing this factor,” Windom mentioned, prompting Chutkan to joke that possibly Windom had it in his binder.

“I’d be stunned by that,” Windom responded.

On the similar time, he emphasised that prosecutors would depart the precise timing “to the court docket’s discretion.”

Within the temporary, Windom mentioned prosecutors “would set forth for the court docket” why the conduct is “personal in nature and never topic to immunity.”

Because the choose debated with Trump legal professional John Lauro over how shortly she ought to transfer to permit the prosecution to file a short defending their indictment on immunity, they ultimately addressed the political elephant within the courtroom: the looming presidential election.

After a backwards and forwards with the choose over what the method needs to be for deciding the immunity points within the case, Lauro acknowledged that amongst his crew’s issues concerning the prosecutors’ proposed strategy is what could be aired on the court docket’s public document at a “delicate time.”

The crux of the method disagreement comes all the way down to who will get to file their immunity temporary first and when that temporary will get filed.

“This court docket shouldn’t be involved with the electoral schedule,” Chutkan pushed again.

“We’re speaking concerning the presidency of the US,” Lauro mentioned.

“I’m not speaking concerning the presidency,” Chutkan mentioned. “I’m speaking a couple of four-count indictment.”

“The subtext of your argument right here about these delicate instances … it strikes me that what you’re attempting to do is have an effect on the presentation of this case in order to not impinge on an election,” she added.

Lauro denied that his arguments had been linked to the presidential marketing campaign.

“The selections right here won’t simply have an effect on this case, it is going to have an effect on the republic going ahead,” Lauro mentioned.

Trump has repeatedly complained that the brand new indictment filed final week was an try to intervene with the marketing campaign – simply as he complained about his New York trial within the spring – however Chutkan’s feedback signaled she isn’t going to attend till after November 5 earlier than shifting ahead on the problems that need to be handled within the case following the Supreme Court docket’s immunity choice.

CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz and Holmes Lybrand contributed to this report.