Jack Smith, the special counsel, asked the US Supreme Court (Dec 11) to quickly decide whether or not former president Donald Trump can be prosecuted on charges he plotted to overturn the 2020 election results.
In a filing to the nation’s highest court, 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.”
Smith requested an expedited ruling from the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, including three justices chosen by Trump.
The special counsel said: “The United States recognizes that this is an extraordinary request. This is an extraordinary case.”
Smith said, “It is of paramount public importance that respondent’s claims of immunity be resolved as expeditiously as possible – and, if respondent is not immune, that he receive a fair and speedy trial on these charges.”
Trump’s historic trial
Trump’s trial is currently scheduled to begin in Washington on March 4, 2024, and the former president’s lawyers have repeatedly sought to delay the trial until after the November 2024 election.
They have even claimed that Trump enjoys “absolute immunity” and cannot be prosecuted for actions he took while in the White House.
The immunity claim was rejected on December 1 by the US District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is to preside over the first-ever criminal trial of a former president.
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“Whatever immunities a sitting President may enjoy, the United States has only one Chief Executive at a time, and that position does not confer a lifelong ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ pass,” Chutkan said.
“Defendant’s four-year service as Commander in Chief did not bestow on him the divine right of kings to evade the criminal accountability that governs his fellow citizens,” she added.
Lawyers for Trump have appealed Chutkan’s ruling to a federal appeals court and have asked that all proceedings be halted until the court decides on the immunity claim.
Smith is effectively asking the Supreme Court to bypass the appeals court and take up the case itself on an emergency basis.
(With inputs from agencies)
