OAN’s James Meyers
3:40 PM – Monday, February 12, 2024
Former President Donald Trump filed a last-minute request to the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) asking to prevent his prosecution in his alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
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On Monday, the 45th president asked the justices to hold an appeals court ruling that rejected his claim of presidential immunity in relation to the lead up to events of the January 6th protest.
Trump’s lawyers stated that the court should block the ruling “forestall, once again, an unprecedented and unacceptable departure from ordinary appellate procedures and allow President Trump’s claim of immunity to be decided in the ordinary course of justice.”
“President Trump’s claim that Presidents have absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for their official acts presents a novel, complex, and momentous question that warrants careful consideration on appeal,” they added.
They continued to claim that if his persecution is allowed, then “such prosecutions will recur and become increasingly common, ushering in destructive cycles of recrimination,” the lawyers wrote.
This comes after the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued a ruling against Trump last week, which said it would be implemented February 12th unless the former president filed an emergency application at the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, there is no timetable for the high court to act. However, special counsel Jack Smith has continuously pushed for a trial to take place before the November presidential election, when President Joe Biden and Trump will likely face off against each other for the 2024 presidential election.
The Supreme Court has multiple options they can decide to take. They can reject Trump’s emergency appeal, which would then allow U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to restart the trial proceedings in Washington’s federal court.
Another option is that the Supreme Court could possibly extend that delay while they continue to hear arguments on the immunity dispute.
Additionally, if the justices on the high court decide to take up the case, the oral argument set by the Supreme Court could determine how soon the trial could begin, which of course they have to agree with the appeals court that Trump isn’t immune.
Meanwhile, last week, the justices heard arguments in another Trump-related case to keep him off the presidential ballot in Colorado.
However, in this case the Supreme Court seems likely to rule in the former president’s favor.
Additionally, Trump is also charged in state court in Georgia with alleged attempts to subvert the state’s 2020 election and in New York in connection to hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. The former president has pleaded not guilty to all 91 charges across four ongoing cases against him.
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