Judge Chutkan Smacks Down Trump Delay Attempt, Sets Friday Hearing

Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan has clapped back at the delay efforts by Donald Trump by officially setting Friday as the date for a hearing on a DOJ protective order over discovery.

Chutkan's minute order officially sets the date and time of the hearing for Friday August 11, 2023 at 10 am, in a direct rebuke of defense counsel's claim they were not available that day.

After a day of back and forth filings, Chutkan had ordered both parties to submit possible dates for a hearing prior to August 11th.

In a joint notice in response to the court's August 7 minute order, Donald Trump's attorneys had proposed scheduling the hearing for Monday or Tuesday of next week.

Trump's team stated:

President Trump will not appear. However, he would like to have both his counsel John Lauro and Todd Blanche at the hearing. Todd Blanche is not available on Thursday, since he must appear for a court proceeding in the prosecution brought against the same defendant, President Trump, by the Special Counsel in SD Florida. Mr. Lauro is available on Thursday, with a preference for an afternoon setting. However, since we lost Friday as an option, we would respectfully request a setting on Monday (after 12:00 p.m.) or Tuesday (all day) to allow for both Mr. Blanche and Mr. Lauro to be present.

The government, on the other hand, stated they were available at any time on August 9, 10, or 11. It is unclear what the defense meant by saying they "lost Friday as an option," and there is no reason given as to why they could not appear for a Wednesday hearing.

Here is the minute order just released from Chutkan:

Interestingly, Chutkan's order was e-filed THIRTY ONE MINUTES after Trump posted on Truth Social an unfounded accusation that Chutkan had ties to a law firm that had worked for Burisma, the Ukrainian company at the center of a fake MAGA scandal involving Hunter Biden.

Here is Trump's post:

It is unknown if Trump's post influenced her decision to set the Friday hearing. What is clear is that Judge Chutkan is sending a message to team Trump: this is MY court, not yours.

Here is MeidasTouch co-founder Ben Meiseles discussing Chutkan shutting down Trump's delay tactics.