Just because Donald Trump’s legal woes have disappeared from the headlines, it doesn’t mean he isn’t headed back to court—possibly very soon.
On Wednesday, Judge Juan Merchan rejected Trump’s demand that he step aside, killing the latest effort at delaying the hush money case involving adult film actor Stormy Daniels. Merchan will announce his decision about how the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling affects Trump’s case on Sept. 16 and deliver Trump’s sentence on Sept. 18. Trump has promised to appeal, but he has to sit through the sentencing first.
The Supreme Court’s shocking decision on presidential immunity in July caused Trump’s sentencing in the case to be delayed. He was convicted in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records. Pundits had predicted that this delay would give Trump an open field to attack President Joe Biden during late July and August, providing him with momentum heading into the fall. But that’s certainly not what happened.
Trump has been blown completely out of the media spotlight since Vice President Kamala Harris entered the presidential race. Harris is expected to have even more impetus coming out of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next week. And just when Trump will be trying to restore some energy to his flagging campaign, he’s going to end up standing in Merchan’s courtroom to learn the consequences of that earlier conviction.
The other case that may generate some sparks in the coming weeks is the election interference case being heard in Washington, D.C., by District Judge Tanya Chutkan. An appeal in that case was the start of the immunity ruling, and the Supreme Court waited until the last possible moment before sending that case back to the district level.
Chutkan delayed next steps in the case on Aug. 9—at the request of special counsel Jack Smith, rather than Trump—but there are still hearings scheduled for Aug. 30 and Sept. 5. One intriguing possibility is that Chutkan may conduct a “mini-trial” before Election Day.
The mini-trial wouldn’t determine Trump’s guilt. Instead, it would review the charges and evidence so that Chutkan could determine whether the case can still move ahead following the immunity ruling.
While Trump may not face consequences in this mini-trial, it could include public testimony from witnesses and presentations of evidence. That way, Chutkan could determine which acts might be protected as part of Trump’s official duties, and which acts were strictly to benefit his personal goals.
When it comes to the two other major trials ahead … don’t expect much in 2024.
A year after being indicted in Georgia for election interference, progress on that trial is still frozen with apparently no chance of reaching a courtroom until after Election Day. In Florida, Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon is facing scrutiny for a series of questionable decisions, including tossing the entire idea of a special counsel, but an appeal to the 11th Circuit may take a year to decide.
The delays on what many experts consider the most serious charges against Trump are frustrating, but the sentencing on the New York case means that Trump will be getting some media attention again—of the kind where he stomps in and out of a courtroom.
But the biggest ruling will definitely be the one handed down by American voters.
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