Former President of the United States Donald Trump appealed to the Supreme Court on Monday against a lower court decision that determined that the former president did not enjoy presidential immunity and should be prosecuted for trying to reverse the results of the 2020 elections, instigating the assault on the Capitol. .
Trump had until this Monday to challenge the decision of the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, which on February 6 argued that, upon leaving the White House, he became another “citizen”, so he was no longer protected by the immunity he had in office.
Now the case is in the hands of the Supreme Court, whose decisions could determine whether the former president goes to trial in Washington before the November elections.
In the text of the appeal, his lawyers asked the Supreme Court justices to take their time when examining the question of Trump’s immunity.
“The assertion (…) that leaders have absolute immunity from criminal proceedings for their official acts presents a novel, complex and momentous issue that deserves careful consideration on appeal,” the request said.
The Republican’s legal team has tried to delay any judicial process against him, since an eventual victory by Trump at the polls over the current president, Joe Biden, would place him as head of the Executive and give him the authority to order his attorney general to dismiss the federal charges against him.
Trump’s strategy has already worked and has ensured that the judicial process against him for electoral interference, presided over by District of Columbia Judge Tanya Chutkan, has remained paralyzed since December.
Although the start of that trial was initially scheduled for March 4, that date has been suspended without a new one having been set.
In the face of Trump’s efforts, the special prosecutor in charge of the case, Jack Smith, is doing everything possible to have the trial take place this year.
The judges of the Supreme Court, where conservatives have a majority, already rejected in December a request from Smith to intervene in the lawsuit over presidential immunity.
Now, faced with Trump’s request, the judges have several options: directly refuse to consider the case, provisionally paralyze the judicial process against Trump while they debate the issue of presidential immunity, and also hold a hearing to hear the parties’ arguments. .
There is no deadline for the Supreme Court justices to make a decision, although they will likely ask Smith’s team for their opinion before doing so.
Of the nine Supreme Court justices, three were appointed by Trump.
The one in Washington is one of the four criminal charges that Trump faces. If the Washington trial is delayed, the first to be held could be the one he faces in New York for alleged irregular payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels, currently set for March 25.
In addition, the trial in Florida is scheduled for May 20, in which Trump is accused of having illegally stored classified material in his Mar-a-Lago mansion.
Finally, there is the case in which the Fulton County Prosecutor’s Office (Georgia) accuses Trump of trying to subvert the 2020 election results in that state. A date has not yet been set for that trial.