By Maria Ortiz
The Supreme Court will consider on Thursday whether Former President Donald Trump is entitled to broad immunity facing criminal charges in the federal criminal prosecution for interference in the 2020 elections brought by special counsel Jack Smith, for events that occurred while Trump was in the White House, which includes the high court justices at the political center of the 2024 elections.
The Trump vs. United States case is the second in this term in which the highest court in the country will enter into a legal battle that presents an issue that it has never faced before and that has consequences for the former president and for the presidential elections in November.
The Supreme Court’s decision will be crucial in determining whether special counsel Jack Smith’s case against Trump can go to trial.
A ruling in favor of Trump would end the process.
But if Smith wins (as he has twice in lower courts) and Trump’s immunity claims are rejected, the case would resume after being on hold for months. It is not yet known how quickly it could go to trial..
What is decided in the Supreme Court case
A victory for special prosecutor Smith too would significantly increase Trump’s need to win in the 2024 election, since he could order the Department of Justice to drop the case if he takes back the White House.
Judges have the task of deciding Whether the doctrine of presidential immunity extends to criminal prosecution for acts committed by a former president while in office. The Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority and Trump appointed three of its members.
The question before the justices, who rejected Smith’s request to let the appeals court decision stand on its own, is “whether, and if so, to what extent, a former president enjoys presidential immunity from prosecution.” criminal for conduct allegedly involving official acts during his term in office.”
What the parties say
Trump is the first former president in the country’s history to face criminal charges, and its processing in Washington DC It is one of four criminal cases against him that are being carried out: two in federal courts and two in state courts.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges and frequently claims that the judicial proceedings against him are politically motivated.
His legal team has said the unprecedented nature of his prosecutions is evidence that presidents are protected from criminal charges.
Prosecutor Smith has alleged that Trump engaged in a multi-pronged plot to subvert the transfer of presidential power, and all his actions were taken to achieve a private objective: remain in office for a second term.
Even if judges decide that former presidents cannot be criminally charged for official acts, Prosecutors wrote that Trump’s alleged conduct described in the indictment it was a “private plan with private actors to achieve a private end: the petitioner’s effort to remain in power through fraud.”
The special counsel told the court that an alleged scheme to overturn the result of the presidential election is the “paradigmatic example of conduct that should not be immunized, even if other conduct should be.”
Even if the Supreme Court ultimately rejects Trump’s arguments and clears the way for his criminal prosecution, its decision to consider the case in the first place added months of delay to the process.
Keep reading:
– Supreme Court to hear arguments on Trump’s presidential immunity on April 25
– The Supreme Court will soon decide whether Trump can be prosecuted for interference in the 2020 elections
– Trump presented his last argument before the Supreme Court to delay his immunity case