The Supreme Court is expected to rule on Donald Trump’s presidential immunity ahead of his trial on election fraud charges on March 4, 2024.
On Sunday, Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith asked the Supreme Court to take the case under “pretrial certiorari,” meaning it would bypass the lengthy federal appeals procedure and move to the highest court in the United States.
This was done in the case of United States v. Nixon, after President Richard Nixon refused to turn over secret White House tapes to a special counsel about the Watergate scandal, and they are only used in ordinary cases.
“The United States recognizes that this is an extraordinary request,” Smith’s filing said. “This is an extraordinary case.”
On Monday, the Supreme Court granted the request on an expedited basis, saying Trump’s lawyers had until 4 p. m. Wednesday to respond to Smith’s request. That delay for Trump’s lawyers is two days longer than Smith had requested.
“The petitioner’s motion is granted to expedite the petition for certiorari before the judgment is granted, and the defendant is asked to register a reaction to the motion no later than four p. m. (EST) of Wednesday, December 20, 2023,” the court wrote. This does not mean that the court will take over the case, but simply that it will accept the request as temporarily as possible.
Trump indicted on 4 counts in Washington, D. C. , for allegedly running to overturn the effects of the 2020 election in the run-up to the 2021 riot at the U. S. Capitol. U. S. Charges and Conspiracy to Obstruct an Official Proceeding.
It is one of four criminal cases that Trump is facing while he campaigns as frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination. He has also pleaded not guilty to charges in the other cases and has repeatedly said that they form part of a political witch hunt.
Newsweek reached out to Trump on Tuesday for an email.
The Supreme Court does not have a conference day until January 5, 2024, making it likely the earliest date it will vote on whether to hear the case.
A conference day is a closed session of the Supreme Court where the justices vote on which cases to accept.
Given the exceptionally serious nature of the case, it’s possible the Supreme Court could hold a special conference day before that date to vote on the case.
If you accept the case, you will simply be able to hear oral arguments in early 2024. Since it only agreed to expedite its resolution on whether or not to hear the case, there is no guarantee that the case itself will be placed on an expedited proceeding. .
In October, Trump’s legal team filed its first motion to dismiss the case, raising what Trump’s lawyers claim is his “absolute immunity” from prosecution for movements made while in office in the nation.
The judge overseeing the case, D.C. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, rejected the motion.
Sean O’Driscoll is a court reporter and criminologist for Newsweek based in Ireland. Its purpose is to inform about U. S. legislation. He has covered human rights and extremism extensively. Sean joined Newsweek in 2023 and in the past has worked for The Guardian, The New York Times, BBC, Vice, and others in the Middle East. He specialized in human rights issues in the Persian Gulf and conducted a three-month investigation into labor rights abuses for the New York Times. In the past it was founded in New York City for 10 years. He is a graduate of Dublin City University and is a qualified lawyer in New York and an Irish notary.
You can get in touch with Sean by emailing [email protected]. Languages: English and French.