Judge Chutkan chucks sly 'zinger' at Trump lawyers after they miss key deadline: analysts
The federal judge overseeing Donald Trump's election interference case just threw the former president's lawyers some subtle shade after they submitted, past deadline, an aggressive filing echoing their rejected demands, according to legal analyses of recent court records.
Washington D.C. Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled Friday to grant an unopposed motion to extend the deadline for a procedural filing — which the New York Times reported might have infuriated her by repeating old pleas — submitted after her Thursday evening deadline had passed.
"The deadline for Defendant's 235 Omnibus Reply in Further Support of Discovery Motions is extended nunc pro tunc to the end of day on September 19, [Thursday]" Chutkan wrote.
It was then that Chutkan added what MSNBC host Katie Phang described a "zinger."
"Going forward," Chutkan wrote, "the parties should seek any needed extensions of time before the deadline."
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This gentle jab arrived hours after Trump's attorneys filed a lengthy request that Chutkan force special counsel Jack Smith to hand over more information about the case he is building against the former president.
Despite the procedural nature of the filing, Trump's lawyers began their 34-page brief with a blunt demand, federal court records show.
"This case should be dismissed," wrote John Lauro and Todd Blanche. "Promptly."
New York Times analyst Alan Feuer argued that the lawyers' "aggressive tactics" were uncommon in such procedural filings and likely irked Chutkan.
"The lawyers tested the boundaries of normal legal process — and perhaps the patience of the federal judge overseeing the case," Feuer wrote.
"It may not help the lawyers’ case that they accidentally missed the 5 p.m. filing deadline she had set for the discovery papers and did not submit them to her until just before midnight.