Jack Smith's Trump Case Removed From Court Docket Raises Eyebrows

Donald Trump's scheduled start date for his federal 2020 election obstruction trial being removed from the public calendar has sparked intrigue and rumors from MAGA loyalists of the former president.

Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the case—where Trump has pleaded not guilty to four charges under Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation into the events which led up to the January 6 attack—originally set the start of the trial for March 4.

However, it has long been suspected that the start of the proceedings would be pushed back, as the case is on hold while the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit decides whether Trump should be immune from prosecution since the charges against him relate to his time in office. Despite hearing arguments on January 9 about whether the former president can cite absolute immunity to dismiss Smith's case, it is unclear when the three-judge panel at the appeals court will make a decision.

It has now been revealed, as first reported by The Washington Post, that the March 4 trial date for Trump's 2020 election case no longer appears in a public calendar at the federal court in Washington D.C., with the administrative move a sign that the trial will be delayed pending the immunity appeal process.

When the update was reported on social media, a number of MAGA figures speculated that the removal of the March 4 trial date from the public calendar meant that the case will be dropped entirely.

Republican Florida congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna also noted that the removal of the state from the court calendar occurred "within hours" of her sending a letter to Smith's office demanding information regarding his investigation, which had been signed by several other MAGA lawmakers including Georgia's Marjorie Taylor Greene and Colorado's Lauren Boebert.

"Jack Smith owes the American people and Congress answers," Luna wrote on X, formerly Twitter, while sharing the letter.

Florida rep. Matt Gaetz, another staunch Trump loyalist, shared the post, adding "LUNA!!!!!!"

Simon Ateba, a reporter known for clashing with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre during briefings, posted while sharing the calendar update: "It's therefore getting a bit late to stop Trump before the presidential election in November!!!! I don't know what the next plan is with this new development!"

Jack Posobiec, a far-right figurehead who helped spread the QAnon-linked "Pizzagate" conspiracy theory, added while sharing a link from the Post Millennial site: "The sound you heard was all the anti-Trump hopes imploding all at once. U N S T O P P A B L E."

But Bill Shipley, an attorney who represents defendants charged in connection to the Capitol riot, was one of those who dismissed the theories as "idiotic."

"Tomorrow was the day the Juror questionnaires were supposed to be returned to the Court by prospective jurors and given to the parties. Was a questionnaire ever prepared? No—the case has been stayed. So no questionnaires will be received," Shipley posted on X.

"One of the first questions is 'Do you have any plans that would make it impossible for you to be a juror from March 3 to May 3?' Well, you can't send that out until you know what the start date will be," he added. "So all you supposedly 'in the know' X-sters, just stop posting nonsensical conspiracy theories about why the Court—NOT JACK SMITH—removed the trial from the March 4 calendar."

The Department of Justice and Trump's legal team has been contacted for comment via email.

There have been other indications to suggest that Chutkan's original proposed March 4 start date for Trump's federal election trial will be pushed back pending the appeal ruling.

As noted by The Post, Chutkan recently set a March 18 hearing for a defendant in a separate case, saying: "I suspect in March I will not be in trial."

On January 18, she submitted court filings that prevented Smith's team from submitting motions while the case is on hold pending the result of the immunity appeal.

In the filings, Chutkan stated that the period of time in which the case is stayed will not count towards the seven months between indictment and trial, which she offered the former president's legal team to prepare for the case.

"Contrary to Defendant's assertion, the court has not and will not set deadlines in this case based on the assumption that he has undertaken preparations when not required to do so," Chutkan wrote.