Court gives prosecutors a week to respond to immunity claim

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave Jack Smith, the special counsel prosecuting former President Donald Trump, a week to respond to Trump's emergency application asking the justices to halt an appeals court's ruling that rejected his claim that he is absolutely immune from criminal charges.

In asking Smith to respond by Feb. 20 at 4 p.m., the justices did not set a particularly speedy schedule. The court often asks for quicker responses to emergency applications on what critics call its shadow docket. But nothing prevents Smith from filing sooner, and he probably will.

The proceedings against Trump in his criminal trial on charges of trying to subvert the 2020 election will remain frozen in the meantime. Unless the justices move quickly, the trial could be pushed into the heart of the 2024 campaign, or even past the election.

In asking the Supreme Court to intervene Monday, Trump's lawyers urged the justices to move at a deliberate pace.

“President Trump's claim that presidents have absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for their official acts presents a novel, complex and momentous question that warrants careful consideration on appeal,” Trump's application said.

His lawyers added that the court should take account of the election campaign and what they said were Smith's political motives in trying to move briskly.

“Conducting a monthslong criminal trial of President Trump at the height of election season,” the filing said, “will radically disrupt President Trump's ability to campaign against President Biden — which appears to be the whole point of the special counsel's persistent demands for expedition.”

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously rejected Trump's argument that he may not be prosecuted for actions he took while in office.

The trial had been set to start on March 4, but Judge Tanya Chutkan has removed it from her calendar. If the justices deny Trump's request for a stay, it will be rescheduled.