Is the DOJ Using a ‘Special Rule’ Regarding Trump’s Case Before Election?

So, prosecutors are suddenly feeling a bit shy about charging Trump right before the big 2024 showdown.

Joyce Vance, legal expert, thinks the DOJ might be pulling out some secret rulebook for this high-stakes drama.

With Jack Smith asking for a three-week extension, it makes you wonder.

You’d think they’d want to attack him all the more right up to election.

Is it that they’re out of steam?

Does a new playbook have to be written, seeing as they’re out of their depths?

Jack Smith could apply 'special rule' to Trump ahead of election: Attorney https://t.co/vzJprvVs4E pic.twitter.com/GF2CByvGho

— Newsweek (@Newsweek) August 9, 2024

Newsweek reports:

Prosecutors may be reluctant to bring a case against former President Donald Trump so close to the 2024 presidential election, an attorney has said.

Joyce Vance was reacting to the surprise request by prosecutors on Thursday to delay the Republican presidential nominee’s election fraud case by three weeks. She suggested that the Department of Justice may be applying a “special rule” to avoid going to trial before the election.

“It’s possible DOJ could apply some special rule in this unusual case, but hopefully they’ve learned that nothing good happens when Trump receives special treatment other defendants aren’t entitled to,” she wrote.

Chief prosecutor Jack Smith announced on Thursday that he needs until August 30 to lay out his case against Trump following the U.S. Supreme Court’s July 1 ruling on presidential immunity.

He said that the federal government “has not finalized its position on the most appropriate schedule for the parties to brief issues related to the decision,” and “respectfully requests additional time” to assess the Supreme Court’s immunity precedent.

Special counsel Jack Smith requested a delay in the January 6 case against Trump, citing a need for further consideration of the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision. https://t.co/L6L7LCKPsm

— Intelligencer (@intelligencer) August 9, 2024

The Hill adds:

Special counsel Jack Smith asked for additional time to settle how to proceed with former President Trump’s Jan. 6 prosecution, asking to bump back a swift set of deadlines ignited when the case returned to a lower court.

District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan had ordered Smith and Trump’s attorneys to jointly propose how to move forward in the case after the Supreme Court handed the former president a victory in determining he has some protection from prosecution as a past executive.

By requesting a three-week delay in that filing, Smith is likely to disappoint those who have called for him to ask for an evidentiary hearing with live witness testimony ahead of the election.

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It also shows that Smith’s team is still grappling with the best path forward after after the Supreme Court ruled Trump is immune from prosecution for core actions he took as president and presumptively immune for all other official acts.

“The Government continues to assess the new precedent set forth last month in the Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. United States,” Smith’s team wrote in the filing.

“Although those consultations are well underway, the Government has not finalized its position on the most appropriate schedule for the parties to brief issues related to the decision.”

The filing notes Trump’s team did not object to the request.

Smith proposed that the two parties weigh in on Aug. 30, rather than Friday. The Aug. 16 hearing scheduled by Chutkan would likewise then need to be delayed.

Smith is faced with difficult choices following the Supreme Court’s decision, including whether to narrow the charges brought within the indictment.