Supreme Court's immunity hearing leaves prospect of pre-election Trump Jan. 6 trial in doubt

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday laid out a hearing schedule on former President Donald Trump's claims of presidential immunity that raises significant doubts that the election interference case against him will go to trial before the 2024 election — a major win for Trump in his effort to starve off legal consequences for his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.

The Supreme Court's decision to hear oral arguments the week of April 22 about whether Trump is entitled to presidential immunity left open a startling possibility: that a former president charged with conspiring to obstruct Congress and disfranchise millions of Americans in an effort to stay in the Oval Office after losing an election may avoid facing trial before he is given a chance to return to the White House.

Until Wednesday evening, there was a chance that Trump's trial in Washington — based on an indictment returned in August 2023 — could go to trial as soon as May, with a likely verdict potentially handed down months before Election Day 2024.

Judge Tanya Chutkan had originally set a trial date for March 4, saying she would give Trump's team seven months to prepare for trial. But that timeline was delayed when the case was frozen in December following an appeal from Trump's team. Trump had 88 days left on that preparation timeline, which meant that had the Supreme Court simply allowed the circuit court decision on presidential immunity to stand, the case would have been underway in Chutkan's courtroom as soon as early May 2024.

The Supreme Court's decision to hear arguments in April instantly erased the possibility that Trump would be convicted before the Republican National Convention, which is set to take place in Milwaukee in