US Supreme Court gives special counsel Jack Smith one week to respond to Trump immunity claim
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered special counsel Jack Smith to respond by next Tuesday to former President Trump’s blanket immunity appeal in his stalled Jan. 6 election interference case.
Chief Justice John Roberts gave prosecutors eight days to say whether they believe the top court should hear Trump’s explosive claim that he cannot be prosecuted for crimes he committed while in the White House.
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Trump met a Monday deadline to ask the Supreme Court to hear his appeal of a unanimous D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals panel’s ruling that he cannot be allowed to be above the law.
Roberts’ ruling sets in motion a dance with the other eight justices that could result in Trump’s case being returned swiftly to Judge Tanya Chutkan for trial, being delayed indefinitely, or something in between.
If four or five of the nine justices believe the top court should hear Trump’s appeal, then they could decide to schedule arguments soon enough to make a ruling in a couple of months, enough time for the former president to face a summer trial.
Or they could hear the case in their normal fall session, effectively letting Trump off the hook until after the presidential election that he hopes will get him back into power and allow him to kill the case.
