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Trump team, special counsel returning to court for first time since Supreme Court immunity ruling
Washington — Lawyers for former President Donald Trump and special counsel Jack Smith are returning to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s courtroom Thursday for the first time since she regained control of the 2020 election-related case following the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on presidential immunity.
The attorneys are poised to lay out their proposed paths for how pretrial proceedings should move forward in the wake of the July decision, which offered Trump and all former presidents protection from federal prosecution for “official acts.”
Trump is not expected to attend Thursday’s hearing and has waived his right to appear.
Ahead of the scheduled status conference, the judge asked both sides to present their arguments for how the case should proceed. In a court filing last week, Smith left the exact timeline up to Chutkan and indicated the court should promptly apply the high court’s immunity ruling and make decisions accordingly.
The former president’s legal team, meanwhile, urged Chutkan to give the parties more time to go over the potential legal questions and proposed a schedule that would extend pretrial proceedings in the case into the spring or fall of 2025, about two years after the charges were first filed and well after the November presidential election.
Trump’s lawyers said they plan to argue the indictment should be tossed out on the grounds that Smith’s appointment as special counsel and funding are unconstitutional.
They further believe that the case should be dismissed based on presidential immunity. In addition, they may seek to have two charges dismissed based on the Supreme Court’s decision in June limiting the scope of a federal obstruction charge, the former president’s legal team said in their filing.
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority ruled in July that presidents and former presidents are immune from criminal prosecution for “official acts” they take during their presidency. Some of the conduct alleged in Smith’s original indictment fell squarely under that umbrella, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority’s opinion. For other allegations, the court left it up to Chutkan to decide whether Trump was acting in his capacity as the president or as a private candidate for office.
Last week, in advance of Thursday’s hearing, Smith unsealed a superseding indictment against Trump removing the conduct that Roberts said was covered by presidential immunity. The former president still faces the same four federal counts — including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. — in a charging document that describes an alleged plot to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election. Prosecutors said they made changes to adhere to the Supreme Court’s decision.
Trump pleaded not guilty to the original 2023 indictment and authorized his attorneys to enter a not-guilty plea on his behalf to the new charging document. He has denied all wrongdoing.
Next steps in the Trump case
The way forward in the case remains uncertain as Trump and Smith’s teams laid out opposing views for the pretrial schedule. Trump’s team revealed in a court filing last week that they intend to file additional motions to dismiss the new indictment based on claims that the former president remains immune from prosecution on portions of the conduct included in Smith’s latest indictment, including social media posts, public statements, communications with state officials and interactions with former Vice President Mike Pence.
Prosecutors are likely to argue they tailored the superseding indictment to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling. They wrote last week that they will seek to “distinguish [Trump’s] private electioneering activity from official action, and rebut the presumption of immunity as to any conduct that the court may deem official.”
Trump has already prevailed in efforts to have a second set of federal charges in South Florida tossed out. He faced 40 counts related to his alleged mishandling of sensitive government records after leaving office and attempts to obstruct the Justice Department’s investigation.
But the judge overseeing the case granted Trump’s request to dismiss the indictment on the grounds that Smith was unconstitutionally appointed and his office unlawfully funded. The special counsel has appealed that decision to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
Trump’s legal team said he will challenge the legality of Smith’s appointment in D.C. and cited a concurring opinion from Justice Clarence Thomas in the immunity case, in which he questioned where the special counsel was properly appointed.
“If this unprecedented prosecution is to proceed, it must be conducted by someone duly authorized to do so by the American people,” Thomas wrote in his nonbinding opinion, which was not joined by any of the other justices.
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Craig Newmark, the founder of online classified-ads site Craigslist, thinks the U.S. has a cybersecurity problem.
The entrepreneur turned philanthropist has pledged to donate $100 million to help safeguard the country from potential future cyberattacks, the Wall Street Journal first reported. Newmark will allocate $50 million to protect infrastructure, like power grids, from cyberattacks, including from foreign nations. The other half of his donation will be put toward educating the general public about how to safeguard their personal information, according to the report.
Newmark, 71, retired from the company he founded in 2018.
“The country is under attack,” Newmark told the Wall Street Journal. He said that cybersecurity experts who are working to protect the country from attack “need people to champion them.”
Today, many households make use of connected appliances or smart devices that can make them vulnerable to being hacked by criminals. At the corporate level, cyberattacks have become increasingly common.
“In the current cyberwar, the fight is on our own shores, and we all need to play an active role for the protection of our country and ourselves,” Newmark writes on his website.
In June, a hacking group took down CDK Global’s software platform, crippling auto dealerships across the U.S. CDK said that hackers demanded a ransom in order to restore its systems. In February, hackers infiltrated payments manager Change Healthcare, paralyzing segments of the U.S. Health care system. They are but two examples of the tremendous repercussions a cyberattack can have on an industry.
As part of his latest commitment, Newmark, who has pledged to give away nearly all of his wealth to charity, is making donations to a project out of the University of Chicago’s public policy school that trains cybersecurity volunteers to strengthen local infrastructure. Child internet-safety group Common Sense Media, is another beneficiary, according to the WSJ report.
The large majority of the $100 million pledge has not yet been allocated, and organizations can apply for donations through Newmark’s philanthropic organization, Craig Newmark Philanthropies.
On the foundation’s website, Newmark says he likes to donate to organizations that he believes in and lets them spend the money as they see fit. “Okay, what I do is find people who are really good at their jobs, and who can tolerate my sense of humor. I provide them with resources, and then get outta their way,” he states.
In addition to cybersecurity, other causes Newmark champions include support for military families and veterans, safeguarding trustworthy journalism and pigeon rescue.
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Borrowers saddled with higher interest rates on everything from mortgages to credit cards received some welcome news on Wednesday when the Federal Reserve announced a half a percentage point cut to the federal funds rate. That brings the range down to 4.75% to 5.00%, a major reduction from the elevated position the range was frozen at for more than a year.
While it will take some time for that reduction to reverberate, it will inevitably make borrowing cheaper in the weeks and months to come. And with other cuts possible for when the Fed meets again in November and December, borrowing could become even more affordable by the end of the year.
That doesn’t mean, however, that borrowers stuck with high-interest-rate debt should wait for relief. There’s a strong argument to be made that these borrowers should take action now instead. Below, we’ll break down why.
Learn how the right debt relief service can help you here now.
Why borrowers shouldn’t wait for rate cuts to fix their debt
While waiting for rate cuts to echo throughout the economy may be tempting, particularly if you’re suffering from high-rate debt, that could be a mistake. Here’s why:
Rates may not fall dramatically
Credit card interest rates have surged in recent years, averaging over 20% right now. But those rates won’t fall as rapidly as they’ve grown. That’s because credit card rates are determined by a series of complex factors, only one of which is the federal funds rate. And even if credit card rates came down by the same half a percentage point that the federal funds rate did, that’s likely to make very little difference in what you have to pay each month, especially if you’re making minimum payments. So if you’re waiting for the Fed to help reduce what you have to pay on your credit card you could be waiting a very long time.
Start exploring your credit card debt relief options here instead.
Your debt will accrue in the interim
Even if you could rely on multiple rate cuts to come, your existing debt will continue to accrue interest and, possibly, penalties and fees if you’re already struggling to pay what you’ve borrowed. And if you can’t make adequate payments right now, it’ll become even more difficult to do so when dealing with a higher debt total (with compounded interest).
Take a multi-pronged approach
There are multiple debt relief options available right now. From debt consolidation loans to debt management programs to credit card debt forgiveness and even bankruptcy in extreme circumstances, there’s likely a path forward for you now. But that doesn’t mean that you still can’t try to position yourself to take advantage of lower rates. Since rate cuts have broad effects, you may be able to consolidate your debt with a debt consolidation loan now, for example, and then refinance it when rates drop later this year or in 2025. Just don’t sit idle, as debt, no matter the form, can quickly become debilitating if not properly addressed.
Speak with a debt relief servicer now who can help.
The bottom line
It’s never a good idea to let your debt accumulate, even if you’re confident that rate cuts on the horizon could help. Rate cuts, instead, will offer gradual relief, not the significant help you may need. Plus, your debt, fees and penalties will compound in the interim. Instead, consider taking a multi-pronged approach by researching a series of debt relief options that can help you now. And keep rate cuts in mind for the future when you may be able to capitalize by refinancing instead.
