Court to review Trump’s immunity claim
The US Supreme Court will review Donald Trump’s unprecedented claim that he is shielded from prosecution for actions taken while in office, further delaying the former president’s federal trial in the nation’s capital on charges of conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss to remain in power.
The justices have set argument for the week of April 22 to consider a unanimous ruling from a panel of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, which on February 6 rejected Trump’s sweeping assertion of immunity from prosecution.
Trump’s pre-trial proceedings in DC will remain on hold until a ruling is issued, putting the Supreme Court in the politically fraught position of influencing the timing of an election obstruction trial for the leading Republican presidential candidate.
The timing suggests the court will resolve the dispute before its term ends in late June or early July, pushing any DC trial well into the presidential election season.
Trump faces four felony counts brought by special counsel Jack Smith in connection with what prosecutors allege was a plan to overturn
Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory.
He challenged the indictment, saying former presidents are immune from prosecution, at least for actions related to their official duties, unless first impeached and convicted by Congress. Early this month, the DC Circuit delivered a forceful rebuke of that novel argument.
Trump asked the Supreme Court to put the appeals court ruling on pause and give him time to seek a rehearing by a full complement of DC Circuit judges. His lawyers argued that he should not be sidelined from the campaign trail by a months-long criminal trial.
In response to Trump’s request, the Justice Department special counsel who is prosecuting the case urged the Supreme Court to quickly allow the DC trial to proceed. Instead, the Supreme Court is keeping the trial on hold, giving the justices the final say in the matter.
At least four of the nine justices must agree to take up any case. Legal experts have said there is good reason to think at least four would do so for Trump’s immunity appeal – he is the first former president to be charged with a crime, and the justices may want to have the last word on such a significant issue as whether he is shielded from prosecution.
Trump has also raised the question of presidential immunity in a criminal case against him in Florida, in which he is charged with illegally retaining classified materials after he left the White House, and obstructing government efforts to retrieve them. – Washington Post