Donald Trump’s lawyers will try to persuade the Supreme Court of his immunity from prosecution since he was president in a blockbuster hearing Thursday, as Jack Smith will try to get his Jan. 6 case back on track.
Trump and his team have argued that all presidents would be weakened if Trump were not allowed to assert the immunity from prosecution for “official acts” as president that he claims to enjoy. They even told an appeals court that a president could order SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a political rival and avoid prosecution.
But legal experts don’t expect the court’s 6-3 conservative majority — including three Trump-appointed justices — to side with his request. A ruling that wastes time or sends a decision back to lower courts to consider any new immunity tests could still work to Trump’s advantage.
Trump’s trial in Washington, D.C., is stalled pending the outcome of his legal action, which comes amid a series of successful efforts to delay his four criminal trials. It could also impact his three other criminal trials related to his withholding of national security information at Mar-a-Lago, his efforts to overturn the Georgia election and the Stormy Daniels affair.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments on former President Donald Trump’s claim to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions committed while in office.
The legal showdown comes as Trump’s trial resumes in Manhattan Criminal Court over “hush-hush” payments to the porn star, in the latest demonstration of how his 2024 campaign is being run at the courthouse.
Trump’s lawyers laid out the extent of the protection they argue he receives when an appeals panel heard the case during a hearing in January.
Judge Florence Pan asked Trump lawyer John Sauer: “A yes or no question.” Could a president who ordered SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a political rival, who has not been indicted, face criminal prosecution?
“If he were first indicted and convicted,” Sauer replied.
“So your answer is no,” Pan retorted.
“My answer is yes, with reservation…you expect a speedy indictment and conviction,” Sauer said. That was just one of the hypotheses she submitted to Trump’s team before the panel ruled against her claim.
In February, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case on an expedited basis. But this decision still blocked the January 6 trial, for lack of having taken faster measures by simply authorizing the upholding of the decision of the court of appeal. This greatly increased the chances that the case would not go to trial before the November election.
Trump said Thursday that immunity from prosecution was essential. “We have a big case today, these judges won’t let me go, we have a big case today in the Supreme Court, on presidential immunity. A president should have immunity. If you don’t have immunity, you only have a ceremonial president,” he said.
There were some protesters outside the High Court following proceedings on the issue of abortion on Wednesday.
Trump met with construction workers in New York on Thursday morning
The Supreme Court has already ruled in favor of Trump after a Colorado Supreme Court ruling excluded him from the ballot.
Trump was indicted in Washington, D.C., for his attempt to overturn the 2020 election
Special prosecutor Jack Smith invoked Nixon’s pardon in his April brief to the high court.
A lawyer for former President Donald Trump (R) faced a storm of questions from a three-judge appeals court over his claims of presidential immunity — including whether he could use the military to assassinate a political rival.
Even a ruling against Trump may not come until June.
Smith rejected Trump’s request in his high court filing.
“The Framers never approved criminal immunity for a former president, and all presidents from the founding to the modern era know that after leaving office they face potential criminal liability for official acts,” he wrote.
“Petitioner claims new and expanded immunity from federal criminal laws that govern the conduct of all citizens,” he wrote.
“No presidential power at issue in this case authorizes the President to claim immunity from the broad federal criminal prohibitions supporting the charges: fraud against the United States, obstruction of official proceedings, and denial of the right to vote. The President’s constitutional duty to see that the laws are faithfully executed does not imply a general right to violate them,” he wrote.
Smith pointed to an earlier constitutional crisis, arguing that Nixon’s acceptance of a pardon from Gerald Ford demonstrated that the president had no such immunity.
“The closest historical analog is President Nixon’s official conduct during Watergate, and his acceptance of a pardon implied that he and President Ford recognized that a former president was subject to prosecution. Since Watergate, the Department of Justice considers that a former president can be subject to criminal prosecution, and independent and special lawyers have acted according to this same interpretation until the petitioner.
Judges are expected to question lawyers about the application of the 1982 law. Nixon vs. Fitzgerald, which immunizes a president from private civil damages. But that “does not extend to federal criminal prosecutions,” according to Smith.
The hearing begins at 10 a.m. and is expected to last two hours — overlapping with Manhattan testimony from former National Enquirer CEO David Pecker.
Trump’s team says the Constitution’s impeachment clause is in their favor. The impeachment judgment clause states that an official found guilty by the Senate will nonetheless be “accountable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment.”
But Smith’s team says it would be ridiculous to require a conviction from Congress, a political body, in order to prosecute crimes unrelated to official conduct.
Trump said Thursday that immunity from prosecution was essential, after complaining that New York Judge Juan Mercan refused to let him attend the hearing in Washington.
“We have a big case today, these judges won’t let me go, we have a big case today in the Supreme Court, on presidential immunity. A president should have immunity; if you don’t have immunity, you just have a ceremonial president,” Trump said.
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