How the Supreme Court dashed Trump’s hopes of avoiding trial
Former president Donald Trump’s claim that he is immune from prosecution hit a major roadblock on Friday, when the US Supreme Court declined to hear his case on an expedited basis. This means that Trump will have to face the appeals court first, potentially delaying his trial on charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election.
Trump’s last chance to escape justice?
Trump, who is the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has been trying to avoid trial by invoking his “absolute immunity” as a former president. He argues that he cannot be prosecuted for actions he took while in the White House, such as pressuring state officials to change the election results or inciting his supporters to storm the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
However, US District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is to preside over Trump’s trial in March 2024, rejected his immunity claim on December 1, saying that a former president does not have a “lifelong ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ pass.”
“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.
Trump’s lawyers appealed Chutkan’s decision to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit and Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the prosecution, asked the Supreme Court to step in and hear the case itself.
Smith said that the case presents a fundamental question at the heart of democracy: whether a former president is absolutely immune from federal prosecution for crimes committed while in office.
He also said that it was of paramount public importance that Trump’s claims of immunity be resolved as quickly as possible, and that if he was not immune, he should receive a fair and speedy trial.
The countdown to Trump’s trial begins
With the Supreme Court’s rejection of Smith’s request, the appeals court will now first hear the immunity case. Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, said this could make it difficult to maintain the March trial date.
Tobias noted that the Supreme Court had agreed to “fast-track” appeals in 19 cases over the past four years and it was unclear why the justices had declined to do so here.
Trump welcomed the Supreme Court’s move and said he was looking forward to presenting his arguments before the appeals court.
“Of course I am entitled to Presidential Immunity,” he said in a post on his Truth Social platform. “I was President, it was my right and duty to investigate, and speak on, the rigged and stolen 2020 Presidential Election,” he said, repeating his baseless claims to have won the election.
The DC appeals court has scheduled arguments for January 9 and its ruling is expected to eventually reach the Supreme Court, whose current session ends in June.
Trump’s lawyers are also expected to ask the nation’s highest court to rule on a decision by the Colorado Supreme Court that would keep the former president off the Republican primary ballot in the western state.
The Colorado court ruled Tuesday that Trump had incited an insurrection — the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by his supporters — and was therefore ineligible to hold office again.
The US Supreme Court has already agreed to hear a challenge to the use of a law behind one of the charges lodged against Trump and hundreds of his supporters who took part in the attack on the Capitol. Trump was indicted in Washington in August for conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction for his efforts to upend the results of the 2020 election.
He faces similar election-related charges in Georgia and has been indicted in Florida for alleged mishandling of top secret information.
Will Trump ever face justice?
As Trump’s legal troubles mount, many Americans are wondering if he will ever face justice for his alleged crimes. Some experts believe that Trump’s immunity claim is unlikely to succeed, as there is no precedent or constitutional basis for it. Others argue that Trump’s influence over the Republican Party and his loyal base of supporters could make it hard for him to be held accountable.
Whatever the outcome of the immunity case, Trump’s trial is expected to be a historic and divisive event that will shape the future of American democracy. Will Trump be convicted and barred from holding office again? Or will he be acquitted and run for president again in 2024? Tell us your opinion on the comment section below.
