Judge Tanya S. Chutkan wasted no time last month when the biggest case of her career — the indictment of former President Donald J. Trump on election interference charges — was handed back to her.
After watching from the sidelines for nearly eight months as Mr. Trump’s lawyers fought their way up to the Supreme Court with what turned out to be a largely successful argument that he had broad immunity from prosecution on charges arising from his official acts as president, Judge Chutkan moved quickly to get pretrial proceedings moving again.
Within 24 hours of getting the matter back, she laid out a schedule for discussing the impact of the court’s immunity ruling on the case. Working on a Saturday in August, she also found time to tidy up her desk and deny two separate motions by Mr. Trump’s lawyers that the appellate process had forbidden her to touch for nearly a year.
On Thursday, Judge Chutkan is set to preside over a hearing in Federal District Court in Washington where she is likely to explain how she intends to approach the task of figuring out which parts of Mr. Trump’s indictment will have to be tossed out under the immunity ruling and which can survive and go to trial.
Her ultimate decision will not only shape the future of the case, but will also serve as a test of the no-nonsense style that she has brought to bear on it since the day it was assigned to her last August.
Before Mr. Trump’s immunity appeals put the case in limbo, Judge Chutkan, who was appointed to the bench by President Barack Obama, oversaw it with a stern hand and an expeditious manner. She often worked through the weekends and evinced little patience for the persistent strategy by Mr. Trump and his legal team of seeking to delay the case at every turn.
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