WTF Just Happened Today

Monday, August 28, 2023

Subscribe: Get the Daily Update in your inbox for free

1/ Trump’s trial on federal charges that he conspired to overturn his 2020 election loss will start March 4 – two years sooner than he requested and one day before Super Tuesday, when 14 states hold their presidential primaries. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan refused Trump’s request to push off the trial until April 2026, saying that was “far beyond what is necessary” and that “setting a trial date does not depend and should not depend on the defendant’s personal or professional obligations.” Chutkan added: “The public has a right to a prompt and efficient resolution of this matter,” noting that “there is a societal interest to a speedy trial.” A federal grand jury indicted Trump on four charges this month: conspiracy to defraud the U.S.; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction; and conspiracy against the right to vote and to have one’s vote counted. Elsewhere, Trump’s criminal trial in New York on charges of falsifying business records related to hush money payments is set for March 25. And in Florida, special counsel Jack Smith’s case accusing Trump of mishandling classified records is set for May 20. In Georgia, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis requested that Trump’s racketeering trial start Oct. 23, 2023. Willis initially proposed a March 4 start date, but one Trump’s co-defendants, Kenneth Chesebro, demanded a speedier trial. (New York Times / Wall Street Journal / Associated Press / NPR / ABC News / NBC News / CBS News / CNN / Washington Post / Politico / Bloomberg / CNBC)

2/ A federal judge in Atlanta heard arguments to determine whether Mark Meadows’s status as Trump’s chief of staff protects him from being tried in state court. Meadows, who was indicted in Georgia on charges that he conspired with Trump to overturn the 2020 presidential election, asked to move the Fulton County case to federal court, saying his actions “all occurred during his tenure and as part of his service as Chief of Staff.” Meadows spent more than two and a half hours testifying. Other defendants in the case, including Trump, are expected to raise similar immunity arguments that their actions were part of their responsibilities as a White House o...

Visit WTF Just Happened Today? for more news and headlines, brought to you by Matt Kiser. The WTFJHT Podcast is narrated and produced by Joe Amditis.