WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Special Counsel prosecuting Donald Trump on federal charges of trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat asked the Supreme Court on Monday to launch fast-track review of the former president’s immunity claim.
Trump has appealed a decision by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Dec. 1 rejecting his bid to dismiss the case, finding no legal support for the position argued by his lawyers that former presidents cannot face criminal charges for conduct related to their official responsibilities.
In seeking expedited treatment of the case – even before a lower appeals court has ruled on the matter – Smith told the Supreme Court in a written filing that the matter “case presents a fundamental question at the heart of our democracy.”
Trump’s appeal suspends his trial, which was scheduled to begin on March 4, 2024. “It is of imperative public importance that (Trump’s) claims of immunity be resolved by this court and that (Trump’s) trial proceed as promptly as possible if his claim of immunity is rejected,” Smith said.
Smith said claims by Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, are “profoundly mistaken,” adding that only the Supreme Court “can definitively resolve them.”
Legal experts have said that Trump’s attorneys could use his immunity appeals to delay the trial, freeing him to campaign against President Joe Biden.
(Reporting by Andrew Chung, John Kruzel and Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Scott Malone)
