Judge Chutkan Hands Donald Trump Partial Victory

The judge in Donald Trump’s election fraud case has allowed Trump to seek classified documents to use in his defense.
Judge Tanya Chutkan issued an order on Thursday allowing Trump to use some classified documents but refusing to allow others.
The order was under seal, so the public is not allowed to know the nature of the classified documents involved.
But Trump has previously sought classified documents to show that there may have been attempted election interference by Russia, Iran and other countries in the 2020 election, and that he was taking action to save democracy, not destroy it.
Trump was indicted on four counts of allegedly working to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the run-up to the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has pleaded not guilty and has said the case is part of a political witch hunt.
Special counsel, Jack Smith, had sought to block Trump from using any of the classified documents he had requested.
Chutkan’s order states that she is “granting in part and denying in part the Government’s Motion to Strike Defendant’s CIPA Section 5 Notice. This Opinion and Order is classified and under seal.”
Her order refers to Section 5 of the Classified Information Procedures act, which stipulates how a defendant may obtain classified information to use in a criminal case.
It states that a defendant is required to provide the Justice Department with a written notice of the classified information they intend to use at trial.
Smith, the chief prosecutor in the case, has long complained to Chutkan that Trump is deliberately using the CIPA system to delay the case until after the 2024 presidential election.
If elected president, Trump may be able to pardon himself or he could simply appoint a favorable Attorney General to kill the case.
Newsweek sought email comment from Trump’s attorney and from Smith’s office on Friday.
Trump challenged the indictment in the U.S. Supreme Court, based on presidential immunity grounds.
The case was frozen in Chutkan’s court while the Supreme Court considered the presidential immunity issue.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on July 1 that presidents have broad immunity for official acts. The court said that presidents have absolute immunity for core political acts and have some immunity for other acts committed as president, but no immunity for strictly private conduct. It also ruled that official acts cannot be used as evidence if taking a case against a president for unofficial acts, a part of the ruling that is highly relevant to the Trump case.
As many of Trump’s decisions and conversations about the 2020 presidential election took place in the White House, his lawyers are arguing in legal briefs that Trump’s White House actions were official acts that cannot be used as evidence for any of Trump’s private actions.
The case has now returned to Chutkan’s court. However, she must now consider how to apply the Supreme Court’s ruling to the indictment, which may involve striking out some of the charges.