The Supreme Court has been asked to rule on whether Trump may be punished
The United States Supreme Court has been requested to rule on whether Donald Trump may be punished for crimes committed while he was president. On Monday, Jack Smith, the special counsel in charge of two criminal investigations involving Mr Trump, urged the court for a swift decision on whether he is exempt from federal prosecution. Later, the Supreme Court decided to review his request. It requested a response from Mr. Trump’s legal team by December 20. The justices, on the other hand, provided no indication of how or when they would rule.
Mr. Trump, 77, is slated to go on trial in March on federal charges related to an alleged scheme to change the results of the 2020 election. However, his attorneys have consistently claimed that past presidents cannot face criminal prosecution for actions linked to their official duties. However, that argument was rejected by a lower court judge earlier this month, who concluded that the case may proceed as scheduled. Mr. Trump then stated that he would appeal the ruling. Mr Smith’s unusual direct plea to the United States Supreme Court on Monday was an attempt to bypass the lower courts entirely and avoid any delays to the scheduled 4 March trial date.
Mr. Smith said, “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.” He went on to say that Mr. Trump’s assertions of presidential immunity are “deeply mistaken,” and that “only this court can definitively resolve them.” Mr Smith was previously accused by the Trump team of attempting “a Hail Mary by racing to the Supreme Court and attempting to bypass the appellate process.”
“There is absolutely no reason to rush this sham to trial except to injure President Trump and tens of millions of his supporters,” a representative for the administration said. Prosecutors seldom seek assistance from the Supreme Court before a lower appeals court rules on a case, and Mr Smith’s plea indicates the importance of his case. If Mr. Trump’s appeal pushes the trial until the November 2024 election, the former president might return to the White House before his case is entirely concluded. This would create a new set of legal issues.
“It is of imperative public importance that respondent’s claims of immunity be resolved by this court and that respondent’s trial proceed as promptly as possible if his claim of immunity is rejected,” Mr. Smith said in his brief. With only five weeks until the Republican primary election in 2024, Mr Trump is now polling significantly ahead of his competitors for the party’s candidature. However, he is now facing a slew of legal proceedings, including a second one initiated by Mr Smith, who accuses him of mishandling secret information after he left government.
If Mr Trump reclaims the White House, he will almost certainly be able to pardon himself in the two cases launched by the special counsel and may be able to compel the suspension of two state criminal prosecutions against him. In the 2020 election case, he is charged with four felonies, including conspiracy to cheat the US government. The special counsel’s court petition on Monday comes after he previously said that Mr Trump is attempting to “delay and disrupt” the trial at “every opportunity.” The federal election case has advanced the most quickly of the four criminal charges filed against Mr. Trump and seems to be the first to go to trial.