Trump Motion to Dismiss Case Denied

This weekend was not a good weekend for Donald Trump in terms of his legal problems.

After Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed Trump’s classified documents case, Trump rolled the dice to have the election interference case dismissed.

On Saturday, Judge Chutkan delivered the bad news that the motion had been denied.

Going to Trial

Chutkan did not waste much time in her ruling, releasing a rather short 16-page opinion on the matter.

She wrote, “At this stage, the court cannot accept Defendant’s alternate narrative.”

That was far from the end of the bad news for Trump, however.

Chutkan also set a hearing date for Trump of August 16, giving both sides until August 9 to make their status filing reports.

During the August 16 status conference, Chutkan is likely to set further motion deadlines and a possible trial date.

Unlike Judge Cannon, Chutkan has taken very little time to issue her judgments on motions, so even if Trump’s defense team tries to overwhelm her with motions, I would suspect she will plow through them and rule against Trump just about every time.

If that goes as expected, she could possibly set a trial date before the election, but that still seems unlikely.

However, do not be surprised if Chutkan sets a trial date immediately after the election to ensure that this case sees the inside of a courtroom just in case Trump wins the election.

The other problem is that these hearings will generate negative press for Trump, and this will all play out as we head to polling stations on election day, significantly benefitting Harris' campaign.

It will also give Democrats more ammunition to use against Trump, as Harris’ campaign seems pretty insistent on using the convicted felon angle against Trump.