By ERIC TUCKER (Associated Press)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers representing Donald Trump urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to dismiss a legal action accusing the former president of planning to overturn the results of the 2020 election, repeating their arguments that he is shielded from prosecution for official actions taken while in the White House.
Lower courts have twice rebuffed the immunity claims, but Trump’s legal team will have another opportunity to present their arguments before the Supreme Court when the justices hear the case on April 25. The decision of the high court to review the matter has put the criminal case on hold until the appeal is resolved, creating uncertainty about whether special counsel Jack Smith will be able to bring the ex-president to trial before the November election.
In a document submitted on Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers reiterated many of the same points that judges have previously rejected, stating that a president “cannot function, and the Presidency itself cannot maintain its essential independence, if the President faces criminal prosecution for official acts once he leaves office.”
“Denying criminal immunity would disable every future President with de facto blackmail and extortion while in office, and subject him to years of post-office distress at the hands of political opponents,” the lawyers wrote. “The threat of future prosecution and imprisonment would become a political weapon to influence the most sensitive and controversial Presidential decisions, undermining the strength, authority, and decisiveness of the Presidency.”
Smith’s team has argued that former presidents do not have absolute immunity and that, in any case, the actions Trump is accused of taking in his unsuccessful but frantic attempt to hold on to power after losing to Democrat Joe Biden would not be considered official presidential acts.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the case, and a three-judge federal appeals panel in Washington have both sided with Smith, but the case — originally set for trial on March 4 — has essentially been put on hold for months while the appeal continues to move through the legal system.
Trump’s lawyers also informed the justices that if they do not accept the immunity arguments, they should send the case back to Chutkan for more “fact-finding.” This would lead to even longer delays before a trial could be scheduled.
Several briefs filed with the Supreme Court on Tuesday, including one from 18 Republican-led states, supported Trump’s position.
The case is one of four state and federal criminal prosecutions that Trump is facing as he seeks to reclaim the White House. He and his legal team have tried to postpone the cases from going to trial, and so far, this strategy has worked in favor of the ex-president.
Of those four, only one — a case in New York charging Trump in connection with hush money payments meant to suppress claims of an extramarital sexual encounter — is on track to start in the next several months. The judge in that case postponed the trial last week until at least mid-April as he seeks answers about a last-minute evidence disclosure that the former president’s lawyers said has hindered their ability to prepare their defense.
