Judge Chutkan DENIES Trump’s Motions To Dismiss D.C. Criminal Case

On Friday night, Judge Tanya Chutkan denied two motions seeking to dismiss the case against President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C.

Trump is under indictment thanks to his failed attempts to overturn the 2020 election, which he falsely claimed was rigged against him.

His lawyers argued that he should be immune from prosecution because those efforts were at “the heart of his official responsibilities as President.”

Chutkan rejected that argument.

“The Constitution’s text, structure, and history do not support that contention,” she wrote in her ruling. “No court—or any other branch of government—has ever accepted it. And this court will not so hold. Whatever immunities a sitting President may enjoy, the United States has only one Chief Executive at a time, and that position does not confer a lifelong ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ pass.”

Separately, Trump’s attorneys maintained that his actions are protected by the First Amendment.

The judge shut down this one too.

“It is well established that the First Amendment does not protect speech that is used as an instrument of a crime, and consequently the Indictment—which charges Defendant with, among other things, making statements in furtherance of a crime—does not violate Defendant’s First Amendment rights,” Chutkan wrote.

Special Counsel Jack Smith is prosecuting Trump on four counts relating to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. After the 2020 election, Trump leaned on Republican officials in states he lost in a vain attempt to help him stay in power despite losing. Smith is also prosecuting him in Florida over his retention of government documents after leaving office.