Judge Gives Trump and Prosecutors More Time to Assess Presidential Immunity

The federal judge presiding over former President Donald J. Trump’s election interference case on Friday delayed until the end of the month a deadline for the defense and prosecution to send her their proposals for how to assess the impact of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling granting former presidents broad immunity against criminal charges.

In a brief order, Judge Tanya S. Chutkan told Mr. Trump’s lawyer and prosecutors in the office of the special counsel, Jack Smith, that they now have until Aug. 30 — not her initial deadline of Aug. 9 — to detail how they would like to proceed with a complicated fact-finding mission the Supreme Court demanded as part of its immunity decision last month.

Judge Chutkan also rescheduled for Sept. 5 a hearing in Federal District Court in Washington to discuss how that ruling will affect Mr. Trump’s election case. The hearing had originally been set for Aug. 16.

The delays came at the request of Mr. Smith’s deputies who told Judge Chutkan on Thursday night that they needed more time “to assess the new precedent” laid out in the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling.

The ruling, issued on July 1, gave Mr. Trump — and other former presidents — complete immunity from prosecution on any charges arising from their core duties, like those involving the veto or the power to grant pardons. It also gave Mr. Trump the presumption of immunity for all other acts undertaken in his official capacity as president. But the ruling allowed prosecutors bring an indictment related to those acts if they could persuade a judge that the charges would not impinge on “the authority and functions of the executive branch.”

A key element of the court’s decision requires Judge Chutkan to sort through the 45-page indictment