The Daily Populous Monday August 5th, 2024 morning edition
Authored by bbc.com and submitted by AudibleNod

Judge rejects Trump effort to dismiss 2020 election interference case

He has denied wrongdoing and has previously claimed the Biden administration is behind the prosecution.

Trump has been accused of spearheading a widespread effort to overthrow the results of the presidential election he lost to Joe Biden.

US District Judge Tanya Chutkan said Trump's legal team had provided “no meaningful evidence” the former president had been prosecuted for "vindictive and political purposes".

The judge overseeing Donald Trump's 2020 election interference case has dismissed an effort to have it thrown out.

The case returned to the federal court in Washington DC on Friday, following a major Supreme Court ruling that concluded he had partial immunity from prosecution.

In a motion to dismiss it, Trump's lawyers argued he had been singled out for prosecution while other people who questioned the election results had not been.

His lawyers also suggested Trump's political opponents had launched the prosecution to prevent him from winning re-election.

Both arguments were rejected, with Judge Chutkan writing in her ruling that Trump was not charged merely for challenging the results, but because he had made "knowingly making false statements in furtherance of criminal conspiracies and for obstruction of election certification proceedings".

She also criticised his lawyers for misinterpreting news stories they cited in their motion, adding that they were wrong to argue that these demonstrated the prosecution had a political motive.

Federal prosecutors allege Trump pressured officials to reverse the results, knowingly spread lies about election fraud and sought to exploit the Capitol riot on 6 January 2021 to delay the certification of Biden's victory and stay in power.

He has been charged with four criminal counts, including conspiracy to defraud the US and conspiracy against the rights of citizens.

Judge Chutkan has scheduled a fresh hearing on 16 August to discuss next steps in the case.

Kind-City-2173 on August 4th, 2024 at 23:35 UTC »

Remember, if Trump wins he will never be prosecuted. Whether you think the charges are legit or not, people that are accused must go through the legal system or reach a plea. Him continuing to delay and pardoning himself is a joke. These cases are very serious and should scare everyone, no matter your political affiliation

VirtuaFighter6 on August 4th, 2024 at 23:27 UTC »

Please find me 11,780 votes

AudibleNod on August 4th, 2024 at 22:22 UTC »

> US District Judge Tanya Chutkan said Trump's legal team had provided “no meaningful evidence” the former president had been prosecuted for "vindictive and political purposes".

His lawyers have a history of not providing "meaningful evidence". He lost 60 lawsuits after all. So this isn't surprising.