At special counsel’s request, judge pauses upcoming deadlines in Trump’s election interference case

November 8, 2024

Alex Wong/Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) — The judge in former President Donald Trump’s federal election interference case has paused all upcoming deadlines in the case, after special counsel Jack Smith filed a motion Friday requesting the pause.

As ABC News previously reported, Smith and the Justice Department are in talks about the best way to wind down the election case and his classified documents case, following Trump’s election victory on Tuesday.

The decision is based on longstanding Department of Justice policy that a sitting president cannot face criminal prosecution while in office, sources said.

“As a result of the election held on November 5, 2024, the defendant is expected to be certified as President-elect on January 6, 2025, and inaugurated on January 20, 2025,” Friday’s filing said. “The Government respectfully requests that the Court vacate the remaining deadlines in the pretrial schedule to afford the Government time to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy.”

“By December 2, 2024, the Government will file a status report or otherwise inform the Court of the result of its deliberations. The Government has consulted with defense counsel, who do not object to this request,” said the filing.

Trump last year pleaded not guilty to federal charges of undertaking a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election in order to remain in power.

Smith subsequently charged Trump in a superseding indictment that was adjusted to respect the Supreme Court’s July ruling that Trump is entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts undertaken as president.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has been in the process of considering how the case should proceed in light of the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling,

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Four dead, including student and teacher, in plane crash

Middletown High School released this photo of Delilah Van Ness, a sophomore, and Paul Pelletier, an Aerospace and Manufacturing teacher, Middletown. Vt., Sep. 9, 2024. (Middletown High School)

(NEW YORK) — Four people are dead after a small plane crashed in Vermont on Sunday, police said.

Vermont State Police identified the deceased as Paul Pelletier, 55; Frank Rodriguez, 88; Susan Van Ness, 51; and Delilah Van Ness, 15.

Pelletier was an aerospace and manufacturing teacher at Middletown Public Schools in Connecticut, the school said in a statement. Delilah Van Ness, a sophomore, was one of his students, and Susan Van Ness was her mother.

“This unimaginable loss has left a void in our hearts and our community,” said the district’s superintendent, Alberto Vázquez Matos. “Paul, Delilah, and Susan were special individuals whose absence is already being felt throughout our district and city.”

Officials did not provide information on Rodriguez’s connection to the others in the crash.

According to Connecticut ABC affiliate WTNH-TV, Delilah Van Ness had been taking flight lessons with Pelletier.

Police said the four departed Sunday morning in a privately owned four-seat aircraft from Windham Airport in Connecticut and flew about two hours to Basin Harbor Airport in Ferrisburgh, Vermont. Upon reaching their destination, the occupants had brunch, then left the restaurant shortly after noon to fly back to Connecticut.

A witness said they saw the airplane on the runway at about 12:15 p.m. local time, state police said.

State police said they did not receive any reports of a plane crash or an aircraft in distress, but after the plane did not return to Connecticut, relatives contacted police.

Just after midnight on Monday, investigators found the crashed aircraft in a wooded area east of the airport in Vermont.

All four occupants were found dead.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.

The cause of the crash has not yet been determined.

Middletown High School will be closed Tuesday, and crisis teams will be made available for members of the school community in need of counseling or other support, the school said.

“As the community grieves, Middletown Public Schools calls for unity and mutual support,” the school said in a statement. “The district aims to honor the memory of Paul, Delilah, and Susan by upholding their legacies of compassion, dedication, and kindness.”

Famed grizzly bear killed after being struck by vehicle in national park as her cub is still missing

Image via National Park Service

(JACKSON, Wyo.) –A beloved grizzly bear has been struck and killed by a vehicle in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, officials said.

The famed grizzly bear — known simply as “Grizzly Bear 399”due to the identity tag attached to her ear — was fatally struck on Tuesday evening by a vehicle on Highway 26/89 in Snake River Canyon, just south of Jackson, Wyoming, and her identity was confirmed through ear tags and a microchip, according to a statement from the National Park Service on Wednesday.

“Grizzly bear 399 had a yearling cub with her, whose whereabouts are currently unknown,” park officials said. “At this time, there is no evidence to suggest the yearling was also involved in the incident, but the US Fish and Wildlife Service is monitoring the area.”

Vehicle collisions with wildlife, including grizzly bears, are not uncommon. From 2009 to 2023, there have been 49 grizzly bear mortalities due to vehicle collisions in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and the National Park Service is now working with state and local agencies to gather more information surrounding this latest incident.

“People from around the world have followed grizzly bear 399 for several decades. At 28 years old, she was the oldest known reproducing female grizzly bear in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem,” said Hilary Cooley, Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“Wildlife vehicle collisions and conflict are unfortunate. We are thankful the driver is okay and understand the community is saddened to hear that grizzly bear 399 has died,” said Angi Bruce, Wyoming Game and Fish Department Director.

In 2024, including this incident, there have been 2 grizzly bear mortalities from vehicle strikes in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, with the average number of grizzly bear mortalities in the region due to vehicle collisions during 2009-2023 standing at 3.3 bears deaths per year, authorities said.

“The grizzly bear is an iconic species that helps make the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem so extraordinary. Grizzly bear 399 has been perhaps the most prominent ambassador for the species. She has inspired countless visitors into conservation stewardship around the world and will be missed,” said Grand Teton National Park Superintendent Chip Jenkins.

No additional information has been made available at this time and the investigation into the incident is currently ongoing.

Special counsel urges judge to reject Trump’s effort to dismiss Jan. 6 obstruction charges

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(WASHINGTON, D.C.) Special counsel Jack Smith is urging the judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s federal election interference case to reject an effort by Trump’s attorneys to throw out obstruction-related charges brought against him following a Supreme Court ruling this summer that narrowed the statute’s use against Jan. 6 rioters.

Trump’s attorneys have argued that the obstruction of an official proceeding statute should no longer apply to Trump’s alleged conduct in the indictment against him, arguing that Trump was never directly involved in obstructing the Jan. 6 vote-certification proceedings.

But Smith, in his new filing, said his recent superseding indictment clearly alleges Trump and his co-conspirators’ involvement in attempting to send fraudulent certificates to Congress that day, for then-Vice President Mike Pence to use as he presided over the certification.

“As set forth in the superseding indictment, the defendant and others began in early December 2020 to cause individuals to serve as the defendant’s purported electors in several targeted states with the intent that those individuals ‘make and send to the Vice President and Congress false certifications that they were legitimate electors,'” Smith wrote.

“Ultimately, the defendant sought” to “certify illegal votes” through “fraudulent elector certificates” that were “mailed to the President of the Senate, the Archivist of the United States, and others in connection with the January 6 proceeding to certify the 2020 presidential election results,” wrote Smith.

Trump last year pleaded not guilty to federal charges of undertaking a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election in order to remain in power. In July, the Supreme Court ruled in a blockbuster decision that Trump is entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts undertaken while in office.

Smith subsequently charged Trump in a superseding indictment that was adjusted to respect the Supreme Court’s ruling.

In his new filing, Smith also disputed arguments put forward by Trump’s attorneys that the former president “bears no factual or legal responsibility” for the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

The superseding indictment “plainly alleges that the defendant willfully caused his supporters to obstruct and attempt to obstruct the proceeding by summoning them to Washington, D.C., and then directing them to march to the Capitol to pressure the Vice President and legislators to reject the legitimate certificates and instead rely on the fraudulent electoral certificates,” Smith wrote.