Former US President Donald Trump on Feb 12 (Monday) asked the US Supreme Court to pause a ruling by a lower court which said that he does not have presidential immunity from criminal prosecution against his bid to overturn the 2020 US presidential election results.
The lower court in this matter is the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit which previously rejected his immunity claim.
A March 4 trial date for Trump in federal court in Washington on four criminal counts pursued by Special Counsel Jack Smith was postponed, with no new date yet set.
Why Trump believes he shouldn’t be prosecuted?
Trump has claimed that he could not be tried for acts carried out as president. But a total of three lower court judges have previously ruled that Trump can be prosecuted like any other citizen.
What does a potential criminal prosecution mean for Donald Trump?
Donald Trump, by all counts and analyses, is the frontrunner for a presidential ticket from the Republican Party for US elections scheduled to be held in November 2024.
“Conducting a months-long criminal trial of President Trump at the height of election season will radically disrupt President Trump’s ability to campaign against President Biden,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in the filing.
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“Without immunity from criminal prosecution, the Presidency as we know it will cease to exist,” Trump’s lawyers added.
What next for Donald Trump?
The US Supreme Court will now rule if or not Trump’s invocation of presidential immunity for the acts purportedly committed during his presidential tenure deems prosecution or not.
There could be two possible scenarios.
One, if the US Supreme Court rules that Trump shouldn’t be prosecuted for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 elections since it happened when he was still the president. In this case, there will be a long delay in the election interference case possibly until the November elections.
Two, if the US Supreme Court rules that Trump should be prosecuted in the election interference case.
In that case, the federal trial in the case will be heard in the immediate future.
(With inputs from agencies)
