Trump asks SCOTUS to wait before deciding on his immunity claims

Former President Donald Trump's legal team has asked the Supreme court to wait before considering his claims to enjoy presidential immunity in special counsel Jack Smith's ongoing prosecution.

After U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected Trump's arguments earlier this month, Trump appealed to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and moved to pause proceedings. Chutkan agreed to the pause, though Smith asked the Supreme Court to promptly rule on Trump's claims in a bid to bypass the appeals court.

Trump's team has specifically asked that the justices wait for the appellate court to render a decision before weighing in, arguing that the matter does not "fall within the narrow class of cases where this Court has permitted a prevailing party to appeal from a lower-court victory."

His attorneys further argued that the Appeals Court had already agreed to expedite the matter, noting that oral arguments are scheduled for Jan. 9, 2024. They also asserted that Smith's primary motivation in seeking the expedited appeals schedule is to maintain the March 4 trial date and to keep the trial going during the height of the 2024 presidential election cycle.

"The Special Counsel identifies no compelling reason for the extraordinary haste he proposes. Instead, he vaguely asserts that the 'public interest' favors resolution on a dramatically accelerated timetable, to ensure that President Trump may be brought to trial in the next few months," they wrote. "In doing so, he confuses the 'public interest' with the manifest partisan interest in ensuring that President Trump will be subjected to a months-long criminal trial at the height of a presidential campaign where he is the leading candidate and the only serious opponent of the current Administration."

"The combination of an almost three-year wait to bring this case and the Special Counsel's current demand for extraordinary expedition, supported by the vaguest of justifications, creates a compelling inference of partisan motivation," they concluded.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.