The United States Supreme Court handed former President Donald Trump a major win Friday by declining to issue an expedited ruling regarding whether Trump has immunity from prosecution by the U.S. Justice Department over charges of interference in the 2020 election.
While U.S. Appellate courts are expected to rule on the presidential immunity case, the Supreme Court ruled Friday to allow the court to follow normal procedures, according to Fox News. Special Counsel Jack Smith had requested that the Supreme Court provide an expedited ruling in an effort to move faster through the court process as the 2024 presidential election quickly approaches.
President Joe Biden’s Justice Department has charged Trump with conspiracy to obstruct an official government proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy against American rights, and the obstruction and attempted obstruction of an official proceeding.
According to Fox News, while the former president’s criminal trial in Washington, D.C., was previously scheduled to take place on March 4, the Supreme Court’s ruling could result in a delay.
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Fox News reported that the D.C. Circuit’s Court of Appeals had previously indicated that the court would expedite the presidential immunity case prior to the Supreme Court’s decision to allow the lower court to finish hearing the case.
Earlier this week, Trump’s legal team filed a brief in response to the Special Counsel’s request that the Supreme Court give an expedited ruling.
“This appeal presents momentous, historic questions,” Trump’s legal team wrote. “An erroneous denial of a claim of presidential immunity from criminal prosecution unquestionably warrants this Court’s review. The Special Counsel contends that ‘[i]t is of imperative public importance that respondent’s claims of immunity be resolved by this Court.'”
Trump’s lawyers argued that the Supreme Court should not consider the case until the lower courts were able to complete a full review of it. They added, “Every jurisdictional and prudential consideration calls for this Court to allow the appeal to proceed first in the D.C. Court.”
