A federal judge has denied former President Donald Trump’s motion to dismiss the indictment against him related to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, ruling that Trump failed to provide meaningful evidence to support his claims of selective and vindictive prosecution.
In a 16-page ruling, Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected Trump’s argument that the Biden administration pursued the case to prevent him from returning to the White House. Chutkan wrote that Trump’s defense team “proffered no meaningful evidence” to support their claims and failed to explain how a hearing would produce material evidence to back up their assertions.
The case had been on hold for months, pending a Supreme Court decision on Trump’s claim of immunity from prosecution. The high court ruled that presidents are entitled to “absolute immunity” for actions within their constitutional authority and “presumptive immunity” for all official acts.
Chutkan’s ruling addressed a motion to dismiss the case filed by Trump’s defense team in October 2023. The judge found that the government did not selectively or vindictively prosecute Trump, citing a lack of evidence to support the claim.
Trump’s team had pointed to two news articles, one in the New York Times and another in the Washington Post, as evidence that President Joe Biden and special counsel Jack Smith launched the prosecution to prevent Trump from becoming president again. However, Chutkan wrote that the articles did not demonstrate any direct link between Biden’s comments and the prosecution.
Trump also argued that he was charged in the January 6 case because he pleaded not guilty to charges in his Florida-based classified documents case. Chutkan rejected this argument, writing that “vindictiveness could not be established by new charges following a not guilty plea or a defendant’s public criticism of the prosecution.”
The judge set an August 16 date for prosecutors and defense attorneys to resume pretrial proceedings, although Trump himself is not required to be present. The development comes just over three months before the general election, in which Trump will face off against Vice President Kamala Harris, who officially became the Democratic presidential nominee on Friday.
