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.
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.