Just before the Christmas Holiday weekend, the United States Supreme Court rejected special counsel Jack Smith’s request to expedite former President Donald Trump’s immunity case.
“This case presents a fundamental question at the heart of our democracy: whether a former president is absolutely immune from federal prosecution for crimes committed while in office or is constitutionally protected from federal prosecution when he has been impeached but not convicted before the criminal proceedings begin,” Smith wrote in a filing to the Court on December 11.
Trump’s lawyers argued Smith had given “no compelling reason” as to why the justices should circumvent the appeals court process.
Now that the Supreme Court has refused to intervene, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will hear oral arguments on the issue on January 9. Once the appeals court gives its ruling, the High Court could take up the case.
National Review reports that The dispute between the prosecution and defense comes after Washington, D.C.-based U.S. district court judge Tanya Chutkan earlier this month rejected Trump’s motion to dismiss his election-interference indictment on presidential immunity and constitutional grounds. The case is currently on pause while Trump appeals Chutkan’s decision.
The federal case, which accuses Trump of conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election, is slated to begin trial on March 4, although the trial date could be pushed back depending on the result of the appeals proceedings. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the following four charges: conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction, and conspiracy against the right to vote and to have one’s vote counted.
