Government

Trump Legal Team Fails To Get Court To Enjoin Non-Existent Order

Civ Pro, how does it go?

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(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

It was another weird, humiliating night for the Trump legal team headed by Kraken alum Jesse Binnall. Late in the evening they filed an Emergency Motion Pending Appeal, or an Administrative Injunction demanding that US District Judge Tanya Chutkan order the National Archivist not to hand over contested documents to the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol Riots.

The court has not ruled on the petition to enjoin the Archives since Trump team made its arguments in briefs and orally last Thursday. (Although things at the hearing did not look good.) Nevertheless, Binnall demanded last night that Judge Chutkan stay her own as yet unissued order.

Absent a court order instructing him not to, the Archivist of the United States intends to comply with the congressional request and release the disputed documents this Friday, November 12, 2021. Because of these considerations and because Thursday, November 11, 2021, is Veterans Day, President Trump requests a ruling from this Court on his Motion for a Preliminary Injunction and, if applicable, this motion no later than Wednesday, November 10, 2021. Should no order be issued by that time, the Plaintiff will interpret the Court’s silence as a refusal and take his appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Ah, yes, threatening a federal judge that you will interpret a 24-hour delay as a failure to perform and take it up with her manager. Works every time!

More to the point, however, Judge Chutkan hasn’t yet ruled on Trump’s prior request for a preliminary injunction, so there’s no order, final, interlocutory, or otherwise, for Trump to appeal if Her Honor doesn’t hop to and render a decision on his timeline.

Which is exactly what Judge Chutkan said in a minute order issued shortly after midnight.

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Plaintiffs’ 34 Emergency Motion for a Stay is hereby DENIED without prejudice. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 62(d) allows temporary injunctive relief “[w]hile an appeal is pending from an interlocutory order or final judgment.” This court has not yet entered any such interlocutory order or final judgment and thus a request for relief under Rule 62(d), which plainly requires an interlocutory order or final judgment before considering such motions, is premature. The court intends to rule expeditiously in this matter, and will consider a Rule 62(d) motion for a stay from the non-prevailing party following its ruling.

Translation: Bro, do you even Civ Pro?

Trump v. Thompson [Docket via Court Listener]

Elizabeth Dye lives in Baltimore where she writes about law and politics.

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