The Supreme Court’s delay in deciding former President Donald Trump’s immunity case has made a trial before the election highly unlikely as per legal experts via Salon.
It has been noted that the Special counsel Jack Smith, who brought the four-count indictment against Trump in August 2023, has accused the former president of conspiring to thwart his 2020 electoral defeat and the peaceful transfer of power to President Joe Biden.
Laurence Tribe, a constitutional law professor emeritus at Harvard University, stated the Supreme Court has dragged its feet.
“it’s obvious that the court has deliberately delayed everything,” he said. “It could easily have issued a ruling much sooner.”
It was last December that U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan refused Trump’s motion to dismiss the charges on grounds of absolute presidential immunity, which he argues completely protects him from prosecution for any actions taken while in office.
The former President has argued that the House has to impeach a former president and the Senate has to convict before an ex-president could be criminally prosecuted.
In early February, the D.C. Circuit upheld the judge’s decision and rejected Trump’s claim.
Chutkan also indefinitely pushed back Trump’s original March 2024 trial date until the courts resolved Trump’s immunity argument. Trump then asked the Supreme Court to weigh in and offer justices’ “thoughtful consideration.”
In late February, the Supreme Court decided to take up Trump’s immunity appeal.
“It could have taken the case in December when the special counsel asked it to be heard directly, or they could have declined to take the case after the court of appeals quite comprehensively rejected Trump’s appeal, so the trial could be over by now,” Tribe said. “Instead, the court has dragged its feet.”
