The supreme court may not reach a decision quickly enough for a trial to proceed in time for a verdict before the November election.
Trump is not immune from prosecution in his 2020 election interference case, US appeals court says
A federal appeals panel has ruled that Donald Trump can face trial on charges that he plotted to overturn the results of the 2020 election, rejecting the former president’s claims that he is immune from prosecution. (Feb. XX)
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will decide whether former President Donald Trump can be tried for trying to steal the 2020 election, setting an accelerated schedule to hear the case in April while his criminal trial remains delayed.
The court will hear arguments the week of April 22 on whether a president can be charged criminally for conduct that involved official acts while he was in the White House.
It’s a win for Trump, who is appealing a lower court’s decision that he’s not immune from prosecution. Even if Trump loses that appeal, the supreme court may not reach a decision quickly enough for a trial to proceed in time for a verdict before the November election.
Special Counsel Jack Smith had told the court the public interest in a prompt trial is “at its zenith.” Smith’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump, the likely Republican presidential nominee, has sought to delay four federal and state criminal cases until after the election.
If voters return Trump to the White House while the trial is still pending, he could ask the Justice Department to dismiss pending federal cases.
Smith had asked the Supreme Court to weigh in early on the immunity issue, which the justices declined to do in December without comment.
After the appeals court rule against Trump, his lawyers tried to use Smith’s arguments to their benefit. They reminded the Supreme Court that Smith had said the case presents “a fundamental question at the heart of our democracy” that only the Supreme Court can definitively resolve.
Smith told the court this month that if the Supreme Court didn’t want to take up the issue before, there was less of a reason to do so now since the appeals court soundly rejected Trump’s immunity claim.
But if the justices did want to consider the immunity claim, he continued, they should do so quickly to minimize the continued trial delay.
Trump’s lawyers had argued restarting the federal trial on election interference would sideline Trump from the 2024 campaign, threatening the First Amendment rights of the tens of millions of American voters who are “entitled” to hear Trump’s campaign message.
Smith pointed out that Trump has been charged with trying to disenfranchise tens of millions of voters by refusing to accept the 2020 election results.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to four federal charges in the case − three for conspiracy and one for obstruction − for falsely claiming election fraud and trying to overturn the legitimate election results.
While former presidents have broad immunity from civil lawsuits for official actions taken while serving in the White House, Trump has attempted to claim sweeping immunity from criminal prosecution.
Trump’s lawyer John Sauer, has argued a president would have to be impeached and convicted in a Senate trial before he could be charged with crimes including murdering a political rival, accepting bribes or committing treason.
Without immunity from criminal prosecution, Sauer told the court, the presidency “as we know it will cease to exist” because political rivals could seek to punish a president for contentious policy decisions.
A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals this month definitively rejected Trump’s argument in a unanimous opinion.
But the panel kept on hold the trial – originally scheduled for March — while Trump asked the Supreme Court to weigh in.
He’s already facing a March trial in New York on charges he falsified business records to cover up payments to women.
Trials are also possible on election interferences charges in Georgia and on whether Trump mishandled of classified documents after leaving the White House.
