Michael Huber 
CNN
—
The special counsel’s office wants more time before having to detail what the Justice Department’s next steps could be in the 2020 election case against Donald Trump, which would push any activity in the case into September at the earliest, just months before the presidential election.
Prosecutors with special counsel Jack Smith’s office said in a filing Thursday that they are still working through what the Supreme Court’s decision earlier this summer – which granted Trump sweeping immunity for official acts as president – means for the case and how it proceeds.
“The Government continues to assess the new precedent set forth last month in the Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. United States, including through consultation with other Department of Justice components,” prosecutors wrote to Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over the Washington, DC, case.
The request marks a notable change in federal prosecutors’ approach in this criminal case, putting the option of a delay on the table after the special counsel spent a year urging the case forward to trial so voters could quickly have answers.
The move by Smith contrasts sharply with Chutkan’s, who, ready to move forward in the days after she was given the case back last week, issued two rulings and set a quick schedule.
Chutkan had scheduled an August 16 hearing to go over the case’s schedule moving forward, but prosecutors are asking the judge to push that date back into September.
“Although those consultations are well underway, the Government has not finalized its position on the most appropriate schedule for the parties to brief issues related to the decision,” prosecutors wrote of the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys had a call earlier Thursday and the “defense was happy to provide this extra time,” according to a source familiar with their thinking.
The two sides also spoke on a call earlier this week.
