In the latest turn of events, Special Counsel Jack Smith has asked the United States Supreme Court to decide on the presidential immunity issue and whether or not former President Trump is immune from prosecution regarding the 2020 election case.
Special Counsel Jack Smith is seeking clarity from the Supreme Court on President Trump’s claim that he is immune from prosecution and wants the court to decide on the issue before a lower court judgment is reached. Currently, District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan declined to toss out the claim of presidential immunity brought up by attorneys of the former president.
“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,” Smith said addressing the Court.
“Respondent’s claims are profoundly mistaken, as the district court held,” he said. “But only this Court can definitively resolve them.”
Trump’s 2020 election case is scheduled to begin on March 4th in district court and Special Counsel Jack Smith is looking for answers if the trial can actually proceed.
Smith told the Court that the United States “recognizes that this is an extraordinary request.” He went on to write petitioning the court, “This is an extraordinary case. The Court should grant certiorari and set a briefing schedule that would permit this case to be argued and resolved as promptly as possible.”
According to district court Judge Chutkan, she wrote in early December referring to the presidency as not a “lifelong ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ pass. Former Presidents enjoy no special conditions on their federal criminal liability.”