Prosecutors on Monday asked the Supreme Court to determine whether former President Donald Trump can escape federal criminal charges for attempting to overturn the 2020 election, urging the court to decide “quickly” whether Trump is protected from the allegations in order to resolve the dispute before the 2024 presidential election.
Key Facts
Special Counsel Jack Smith, who leads the investigation against Trump, asked the Supreme Court to consider whether the president is “completely protected” from being prosecuted in federal court for actions taken while in office, or if presidents are shielded from prosecution if they are “impeached but not convicted before criminal proceedings begin.”
Trump has attempted to have the charges dismissed by arguing that he has “presidential immunity” because he was in office when he attempted to overturn the 2020 election.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected this request, stating that Trump’s time in the White House did not grant him the “royal immunity of kings to evade criminal accountability that governs his fellow citizens.”
Trump then appealed Chutkan’s decision and asked her to halt all proceedings in the case until a ruling is made by the appeals court, going so far as to say he would act automatically as if the case is paused unless Chutkan said otherwise – which could delay his scheduled trial in March 2024.
Smith preemptively went to the Supreme Court before the appeals court ruled on this matter to avoid further delaying the case, arguing that it is of “urgent public necessity” that his claims for immunity are resolved by this court and that his trial be conducted as quickly as possible if his claims for immunity are denied.
A spokesperson for Trump has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Must-See Quote
Smith wrote in his brief to the Supreme Court that Trump’s claims of presidential immunity are “deeply flawed, as the federal court has already determined,” and that “only this court can resolve them definitively.”
What to Watch For
Smith requested that the Supreme Court hear the issue of presidential immunity for oral argument, and that the case be considered quickly so that a final decision can be rendered at some point before the Supreme Court term ends in June 2024. If the court does not take up the case now, Smith asked the justices to consider it later, once the federal appeals court has issued its ruling. It remains unclear when the court might rule on whether it will take up the case, which would require at least four justices to vote in favor.
What We Don’t Know
What this means for Trump’s scheduled trial in March. Smith has repeatedly told the Supreme Court that the trial is set to start on March 4, 2024, but it’s still unclear whether the Supreme Court will act on the case in time for Trump’s trial to proceed on schedule, or whether the date would need to be pushed back should the court not issue a ruling by June. If the court rules in Trump’s favor, it would also mean that the charges against him would be dropped and there would be no trial.
Main Background
Trump has been indicted on four criminal charges in the federal election case, which is one of four criminal cases the former president currently faces, as prosecutors focus on the extensive conspiracy of Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election. The case is one of many lawsuits filed against Trump due to his post-election activities, in addition to multiple civil cases and separate criminal charges in Georgia. The former president has repeatedly argued that he should not face legal consequences for his efforts to contest the election results due to his alleged “presidential immunity.” The Department of Justice has long maintained that sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted while in office, but the question of whether charges can be brought against Trump now that he is out of the White House – since his election-related actions were not directly tied to his presidential duties – has been an unsettled issue in the years following Trump’s departure from office. Numerous judges have ruled that Trump is not entitled to presidential immunity: Chutkan expressed this view when she denied Trump’s request to dismiss the case, and judges on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals previously ruled in December that civil cases against him for inciting the January 6 riots cannot be dismissed on the grounds of immunity. It has long been expected that the dispute would reach the Supreme Court.
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