Devendra Kumar
Lawyers for former president Donald Trump have urged the US Supreme Court to dismiss an indictment charging him with conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election, arguing that he is immune from prosecution for official acts taken in the White House. This assertion has been repeatedly rejected by lower courts, but Trump’s lawyers will have the opportunity to present their case to the Supreme Court on April 25th. The high court’s decision to consider the matter has placed the criminal case on hold, leaving it unclear whether special counsel Jack Smith will be able to put the former president on trial before November’s election.
Trump’s lawyers claim that his immunity from prosecution is necessary to ensure the effective functioning of the presidency, as a president who is at risk of criminal prosecution cannot make decisions without fear of reprisal. They argue that the threat of future prosecution would be a “political cudgel” used to influence presidential decisions, taking away the strength and authority of the office. However, special counsel Jack Smith’s team has countered that former presidents do not enjoy absolute immunity and that the actions Trump is accused of taking after the 2020 election do not constitute official presidential acts.
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan and a three-judge federal appeals panel in Washington have both agreed with Smith’s assessment, rejecting the claim of immunity. The case has been effectively frozen for months as the appeal continues to wind through the courts. Trump’s lawyers have also requested that if the Supreme Court rejects their immunity claims, the case be sent back to Chutkan for further “fact-finding”, which would likely result in even longer delays before a trial could be scheduled.
The case is one of four state and federal criminal prosecutions that Trump is facing as he seeks to reclaim the White House. He and his lawyers have sought to delay the cases from proceeding to trial, with some success. Only one of the cases, a New York case charging Trump in connection with hush money payments, is on track to start in the next several months, with the judge delaying the trial until at least mid-April. The outcome of Trump’s immunity claim is uncertain, and it remains unclear whether the former president will be able to avoid facing trial before the November election.