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WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Monday to postpone his criminal trial on whether he tried to overturn the 2020 election while he appeals a lower court’s ruling that he is immune from prosecution. He asked the Supreme Court to continue.
“Without immunity from criminal prosecution, the presidency as we know it will cease to exist,” Trump’s lawyers said in court.
Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith said President Trump’s actions exceeded the scope of official action and were aimed at personal political gain in an attempt to illegally overturn the legitimate election results through fraud. he claimed.
Trump’s move comes as the Republican presidential front-runner faces four separate criminal charges from New York to Florida and a packed calendar of court dates as the 2024 campaign heats up. It was held in
Lawyers for the former president asked the high court to postpone the case until his appeal can be heard by the entire Washington, D.C., Circuit Court and then, if necessary, by the Supreme Court. The three-judge appeals panel asked for the trial to be postponed only if President Trump appeals directly to the Supreme Court.
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Trump’s lawyers argued that starting the trial immediately would “fundamentally disrupt” his ability to campaign against President Joe Biden. Such confusion, they wrote, “appears to be the crux” of the special counsel’s desire to act quickly. And it threatens the First Amendment rights of tens of millions of American voters who are “entitled” to hear Trump’s campaign messages, lawyers said.
In a separate case, the Supreme Court is also considering whether Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol disqualifies him from being president.
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“Citizen Trump”
A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled on February 6 that Trump can be tried on charges of trying to steal the 2020 election.
“For the purposes of this criminal proceeding, former President Trump has assumed the defense of all other criminal defendants and has become a Trump citizen,” the committee said. “But the executive privileges that may have protected him during his time as president no longer protect him from this prosecution.”
The experts said the 57-page opinion, written by two judges appointed by Presidents Joe Biden and George H.W. Bush and one judge appointed by George H.W. He said he completely rejected President Trump’s claim of absolute immunity.
“It’s clear that no one is above the law, including the president and former presidents,” Rick Hasen, a University of California, Irvine law professor and election law expert, told CNN.
Former presidents have broad immunity from civil lawsuits for official actions taken while in the White House, but President Trump is seeking to assert blanket immunity from criminal prosecution. Special Counsel Smith had asked the Supreme Court to consider the immunity issue early, but the justices declined to respond without comment in December.
In Monday’s filing, Trump’s lawyers sought to use Smith’s claims to their advantage, arguing that the case “reaches the heart of our democracy” that only the Supreme Court can decisively resolve. He reminded the court that Mr Smith said the issue presented “a fundamental problem”..
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What’s next?
There are several possibilities as to what happens next.
The quickest solution would be for the Supreme Court to leave the Court of Appeal’s decision in place and allow trial preparations to resume. In that case, a trial could begin within months.
The longest case would be if they agree to postpone the trial, giving President Trump enough time to prepare his appeal. Under that scenario, Trump would likely not be brought to trial until after the November election.
The court can also expedite the appeal process while suspending the trial. If the high court agrees with the D.C. Circuit’s opinion that former presidents are not afforded blanket immunity for any crimes they may have committed while in office, it could issue a verdict in the case before the November election. There is a possibility that sufficient time can be secured for
But Trump’s trial may not be over by the time Republicans meet in Milwaukee in mid-July to choose their nominee. The only serious challenger to Trump remaining is former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, with polls showing her leading him by a wide margin.
Four judges must agree to hear the case. Five of the nine justices would be needed to keep the case on hold while Trump appeals.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan had scheduled Trump’s trial for March 4, but put the case on hold in December while the immunity issue was appealed.
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The Supreme Court doesn’t always side with Trump.
President Trump is seeking to postpone this criminal trial and three others he faces until after the November election as he runs for the White House again.
Trump’s lawyer, John Sauer, had argued that the president should be protected from criminal charges for his actions while in office. − Even after the term ends − Otherwise, political opponents may try to punish him for controversial policy decisions. Sauer argued that a president must be impeached and convicted in a Senate trial before he can be charged with crimes such as murdering a political opponent, bribery or treason.
Trump’s lawyers said in court Monday that otherwise the threat of prosecution “will hang like a millstone around the neck of every future president.”
President Trump relies on one of the earliest Supreme Court decisions, called Marbury v. Madison, which held that official acts of the president “can never be tried in a court of law.”
But an appeals panel ruled that Trump misread the decision. The committee noted that courts have reviewed and overturned presidential decisions, such as when former President Harry Truman took control of a steel mill in 1952. Prosecutors argued that former President Gerald Ford’s pardon of his predecessor, Richard Nixon, demonstrated how the president recognized his criminal responsibilities.
The appellate panel ruled that “former President Trump lacked any legal discretion to disobey federal criminal law and is accountable in court for his actions.”
President 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 attempting to overturn legitimate election results.
Prosecutors allege a conspiracy that culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The riot briefly prevented Congress from certifying Biden’s victory, forced lawmakers and then-Vice President Mike Pence to flee, and injured more than 140 police officers.
Mr. Trump has previously filed lawsuits in the Supreme Court over issues such as executive privilege, Congressional access to his tax returns and review of classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago mansion. But the Supreme Court has not always sided with Trump, even though he appointed three of its nine members and six of the justices were appointed by Republicans.
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