The Washington Post is reporting that Special Counsel Jack Smith may try to convict former president Donald Trump all the way through the election and up to 11:59 am on January 20th. After the oath, the Justice Department has long maintained that it will not prosecute a sitting president.
Smith has signaled that he will discard that policy and that he is prepared to try Trump not only up to the election but through the election.
He is now reportedly willing to try Trump up to January 20th. Smith has made trying Trump before the election the overriding priority in his two cases against the former president.
The Supreme Court was not persuaded, though Smith did succeed in effectively cutting the appellate process a bit shorter.
According to the Post, he is not giving up the ghost and is now committed to a trial running up to Inauguration Day: "Current officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, expressed that if Trump wins the election, the clock on the two federal cases against him would keep ticking until Jan. 20, when he would be sworn in as the 47th president." Even with Smith's continued push to try Trump at all costs before the Inauguration, it could be a challenge.
Judge Tanya Chutkan has been highly favorable for Smith and highly motivated in seeking a trial before the election.
If Chutkan rules as she did earlier, she is expected to be hostile to Trump's claims on his conduct falling within official functions.
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