

Donald Trump is demanding that a judge halt all proceedings in the federal criminal case charging him with trying to subvert the 2020 presidential election.
The stay Trump requested Thursday from U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan could jeopardize her plan to put the former president on trial at a Washington courthouse just blocks from the Capitol beginning on March 4.
Citing “political costs to President Trump and this country” if the case were to move forward, Trump’s lawyers contend he’s entitled to an “automatic stay” while he appeals rulings Chutkan issued last week.
One denied Trump’s claim that he enjoys immunity from prosecution on the election-related charges by virtue of the fact he was serving as president at the time. Another rejected his arguments that he can’t be prosecuted because he was impeached by the House and acquitted by the Senate for his conduct related to the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
“The filing of President Trump’s notice of appeal has deprived this Court of jurisdiction over this case in its entirety pending resolution of the appeal,” Trump attorneys Todd Blanche and John Lauro wrote. “Therefore, a stay of all further proceedings is mandatory and automatic.”
Trump’s attorneys indicated that even if Chutkan doesn’t grant the stay, they plan to ask the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to do so.
The lawyers also said, unless Chutkan rules otherwise, they plan to ignore upcoming deadlines in the case regarding pretrial motions, exchanges of information with prosecutors and designation of expert witnesses.
Trump’s legal team said in its 11-page filing that prosecutors from special counsel Jack Smith’s office have indicated they plan to oppose the stay.
Trump’s lawyers noted that prosecutors have acknowledged that Trump can’t be forced to go to trial in the case while an immunity appeal is pending. But according to Trump’s lawyers, the prosecutors appeared to seek to leave the door open to pretrial proceedings such as motions, hearings and trial planning in the coming months.
Trump’s attorneys rejected that approach, arguing that the former president is entitled to avoid “the burdens of litigation” while his appeal goes forward, including the impact on his ongoing campaign for reelection to the presidency.
“Concerns regarding judicial resources and costs from continued litigation during the pendency of the appeal — including financial, reputational, and political costs to President Trump and this country — are significant,” Blanche and Lauro wrote.
A spokesperson for Smith’s office declined to comment Thursday.