Former President Donald Trump is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to temporarily halt his federal criminal prosecution for allegedly conspiring to obstruct the electoral certification three years ago. Trump’s legal team filed the request on Feb. 6, stating they are preparing a formal appeal to the high court to take the case.
They are seeking to indefinitely postpone the trial scheduled at a federal courthouse in Washington, D.C. The central issue revolves around whether Trump should be granted absolute immunity from criminal charges stemming from actions taken while he was in office. Last week, a trio of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit decisively rejected Trump’s claim for blanket immunity. In a unanimous opinion, the judges wrote, “Former President Trump has become citizen Trump, with all of the defenses of any other criminal defendant.”
They emphasized the importance of not allowing former presidents to be exempt from the law, as it would undermine the balance of power among the three branches of government. “We cannot accept that the office of the presidency places its former occupants above the law for all time thereafter,” the judges wrote.
The three-judge panel granted Trump until Feb. 6 to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. The justices’ response and the speed of their decision could determine whether Trump will stand trial before the November election. The case alleges that Trump violated federal conspiracy laws in his efforts to retain power following his loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential race.
Special counsel Jack Smith’s legal team said these alleged conspiracies led to the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, which re-sulted in injuries to numerous law enforcement officers and posed a threat to American democracy. Trump maintains his innocence and contends the case is a form of election interference aimed at hindering his potential candidacy for the presidency again. Attorney General Merrick Garland, who appointed a special counsel to investigate the matter, has denied any involvement by Biden or other current White House officials.
The issue of presidential immunity in criminal cases is unprecedented, as Trump is the first former president to face such charges. He is confronting 91 felony counts across four jurisdictions, including allegations related to the 2020 election, failure to return classified documents to the FBI and violations of paperwork laws concerning hush-money payments to an adult film star.
