Special counsel goes directly to Supreme Court to resolve whether Trump has immunity from prosecutio

This is a good move on Jack Smith part, I don't want to see any delays in the March Trial date? Thomas and Alito should recuse themselves from this case, especially Thomas?!! I really want see Trump tried and convicted for the Jan 6th insurrection interference case?!! It will be interesting to see if the GOP runs a convicted felon for president?!!

CNN —
Special counsel Jack Smith on Monday asked the Supreme Court to decide whether Donald Trump has any immunity from criminal prosecution for alleged crimes he committed while in office – the first time that the high court will weigh in on the historic prosecution of the former president.

The extraordinary request is an attempt by Smith to keep the election subversion trial – currently scheduled for early March – on track. Smith is asking the Supreme Court to take the rare step of skipping a federal appeals court and quickly decide a fundamental issue of the case against Trump.

Smith’s team has asked the court to review district Judge’s Tanya Chutkan ruling that as a former president, Trump is not immune from the election subversion prosecution case brought in Washington DC. Lawyers for the former president have argued that Trump’s alleged actions over the 2020 election results were part of his official duties at the time and therefore he is protected by presidential immunity.

Prosecutors also asked the court to decide whether Trump is protected by double jeopardy. Defense lawyers have asserted that because Trump was acquitted by the Senate during his impeachment trial that he cannot be criminally tried for the same alleged actions.

If the Supreme Court were to take up the case, the issue of presidential immunity would skip being decided by an appeals court.

Trump’s team had asked the appeals court last week to examine Chutkan’s ruling and also asked asked Chutkan to suspend all trial dates in the meantime.

The question about presidential protections that Trump hopes to use as part of his defense need to be settled before Trump goes to trial, which is currently scheduled for March 2024.

“Respondent’s appeal of the ruling rejecting his immunity and related claims, however, suspends the trial of the charges against him, scheduled to begin on March 4, 2024,” Smith’s team wrote. “It is of imperative public importance that respondent’s claims of immunity be resolved by this Court and that respondent’s trial proceed as promptly as possible if his claim of immunity is rejected.”

The filing continues, “respondent’s claims are profoundly mistaken, as the district court held. But only this Court can definitively resolve them.”

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/11/polit...ith/index.html

 

Yes, this does make sense, because Trump could have 2 other bites at the apple of delay BEFORE it goes to the SCOTUS at his request

As I've said before, I think the total immunity argument is crap. Certainly, I agree that a former POTUS cannot be charged for actions they order as a scope of the job, which clearly isn't a factor on 1/6

For as crap as that argument is, the double jeopardy argument is triple crap. Even dolts like Alito and Thomas can figure that one out, although I 100% agree Thomas has to recuse if they take it up.

Maybe those new so-called "Ethics" rules will have kicked in by then...

 

I was reading the section on the precedent with Jaworski and Nixon. Remember that Jaworski was going after the SITTING President, but from a time deadline status, the Trump case has a tighter deadline.

Nixon wasn't going anywhere and couldn't be reelected...

 

Sounds like SCOTUS will consider taking the case... (of course, they wouldn't accept the 12/18 date recommended by Smith for response)...

SNIP
In a brief order issued just hours after Smith's filing, the court asked Trump's legal team to respond by Dec. 20. The court also said it would consider on an expedited basis whether to hear the case, an indication that it takes Smith's request seriously.
ENDSNIP

 

Ahhh, of vital interest to the American public.....glad they responded already. No reason to ***** foot around this, they were going to be involved one way or the other.

 

If Smith is asking the SOTUS to rule on the matter, it's because he's certain to win.

Trump's strategy has always been to delay every trial he's faced, and the DOJ absolutely wants the American people to know whether Trump is a criminal before the next election.

The walls are closing in.

 

With this SCOTUS, no such thing as a "guaranteed win" for Law and Order... or Common and Sense...

In order for them to rule for the Defendant, they will have to rule his actions on 1/6 (any of em) were part of his duties as POTUS.

As far as I can tell, the only thing he did that was REMOTELY presidential on that day was telling his insurrectionists to go home (and we love you)..... Frankly, anybody with a Twtitter account and a video phone would have done a better job.

 

I don't see how SCOTUS could legislate that the President cannot be prosecuted for a criminal act committed while in office.

Could Trump have committed a murder and still have immunity?

Seems impossible to me.

 

Yep no guarantees they won't sell out the Constitution BUT, at least we WILL know sooner than later if they do.

 

And if they do??

 

The only reason for this is as you said, election interference. If we didn't already know that was the intent of these trials in the first place. Now Jack Smith has confirmed it. He really wants to start this trial the Monday before Super Tuesday to get Trump off the field. Justice and a decision that will withstand an appeal are not important. If he can't kick off the trial the day before Super Tuesday, he'd rather not even go forward at all. "Justice" under Biden's DOJ. It's the same reason the judge has ruled that Trump's team can't read the discovery before the trial begins. They're all playing the game together.

 

Trump can always plead guilty. It’s inevitable anyway.

 

Or they can go through the appropriate legal channels to appeal decisions. You know, like they do for everyone else. But I understand the goal isn't to treat Trump the same as everyone else. The goal is to interfere in the election. C’est la vie.

 

Why would you want to delay it? Wouldn’t you prefer to get it over with?

 

All I want is for the special counsel and judge to stop being corrupt. Why do you want him to be corrupt?

 

We'll know sooner than later and that can't hurt at all. It may make for a significant voter turnout.

 

Then you should have no worries, should you...? After all, don't you trust his hand-picked Supreme Court justices to come to his aid...?

Or is there just the possibility that justice might prevail...?

 

I was felon trump locked up, why don’t you?

 

I don't care what happens to Trump politically. What I do care about is ruining our institutions of justice to protect a sitting president from his primary political opponent. The only reason Jack Smith made this filing is because he wants complete control of the headlines the morning of Super Tuesday to benefit his boss and political party. There is no ethical reason for it.

He wants the trial to kick off the day before Super Tuesday which also guarantees a verdict, even if lost on appeal to come in before the general election. This entire process is rigged to benefit a sitting president against his primary political adversary and they are doing it in an extremely corrupt manner.

I understand people don't like Trump and they're perfectly happy to see the degradation of the justice system. But when it is used against them in the future they will be crying.

 

Don’t people have a right to know if they’re electing a felon? It’s not like he’s got any competition in the primary.

 

People have a right to vote for a candidate or their choice, something Democrats in many states have been trying to prevent.

I can't vote for Trump on Super Tuesday or the primaries because my state is a closed primary state and I'm not a Republican. I also have no interest in voting for Trump in the general election regardless of what happens. What I am interested in is equal application of justice. And I'm surprised by the number of liberals on this forum who aren't.

 

I 'get' your point that this is sought to be expedited because of the politics, but, the other side of that coin is this. Surely it is in the public interest to know prior to an election whether an indicted candidate is a felon?

 

Yeah, I call BS. You have a vested interest in Trump being able to get away with his crimes. Your comments already prove this. You have made up your mind that poor mango mussolini is innocent and is only in legal peril because Biden's master plan is to simply create fake felonies and convinced a life long Republican in Jack Smith to go along with his master plan.

 

And I repeat...won't his buddies on the Supreme Court quash this request of Smith's, if it is as underhanded and unwarranted as you say...? Or are they all in the conspiracy too now...?

 

Oh how cute. Someone who says things like "Mango Mussolini" attacks my character while defending government corruption.