OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts of the United States Supreme Court has granted prosecutors a week to reply to former President Donald Trump’s request to halt his federal criminal election-subversion trial while he attempts to convince the court to dismiss the case entirely based on presidential immunity.
Special Counsel Jack Smith has until next Tuesday at 5 p.m. to respond to the emergency application that Trump’s attorneys filed at the high court on Monday, according to a brief docket entry from the court on Tuesday morning, Politico noted.
A federal appeals court in Washington, consisting of three judges, unanimously dismissed President Trump’s broad claim of immunity last week. But until the Supreme Court takes up Trump’s request for emergency relief, the judges decided not to send the case back to a lower court for a trial.
Smith has already pleaded with the courts to settle the immunity dispute as soon as possible, allowing Trump’s trial in Washington, D.C., which was originally scheduled for March 4, to start later this year.
In an attempt to get a quicker resolution, the special counsel asked the Supreme Court to consider the immunity issue in December, even before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals had reviewed it. However, the justices rejected the request.
“This Court’s immediate review of that question is the only way to achieve its timely and definitive resolution,” Smith wrote in the December filing. “The Nation has a compelling interest in a decision on [Trump’s] claim of immunity from these charges — and if they are to be tried, a resolution by conviction or acquittal, without undue delay.”
Smith will probably disagree with Trump’s request to halt the trial court’s proceedings while he files additional petitions with the Supreme Court and the D.C. Circuit’s entire 11-judge panel for relief. He is hoping that those courts will decide that, absent being impeached and found guilty by Congress, former presidents are not prosecuted for actions that could be considered related to their office.
Smith can reply to Trump’s most recent high court filing, which was widely expected, and essentially restates the points his lawyers have made before, without having to wait until next Tuesday.
