It is of “urgent public importance” that the Supreme Court decide on Trump’s claimed immunity, White said in his motion filed on Monday. According to current plans, the trial in federal court against Trump for attempted election manipulation is scheduled to begin on March 4th. White now stated in his petition to the Supreme Court that if the court rejects Trump’s claim to immunity, it should “move forward as expeditiously as possible” with the process.
The special prosecutor emphasized that the case concerns “a fundamental question at the core of our democracy.” It’s about whether a former president is “absolutely immune” from prosecution by the federal judiciary for crimes he committed while in office.
White asked the Supreme Court to make the issue of Trump’s immunity a priority. The special investigator himself has taken a clear position on this question: “No one in this country, not even the president, is above the law,” his team wrote to federal judge Tanya Chutkan in October. Trump “is subject to federal criminal laws like more than 330 million other Americans.”
Chutkan shares the special counsel’s reasoning and dismissed the request from Trump’s lawyers on December 1. Trump’s four years as president “have not given him the divine right of kings to avoid the criminal liability to which his fellow citizens are subject,” she found.
Trump’s lawyers again appealed Chutkan’s decision. They argue that Trump was protected from the charges brought by his immunity as president at the time.
Through his application to the Supreme Court, Special Counsel White now wants to speed up the clarification of the question of Trump’s possible immunity.
Trump was indicted by the federal judiciary at the beginning of August for his attempts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election and thus stay in power. The right-wing populist has rejected all allegations and pleaded not guilty. The 77-year-old was also charged in Atlanta, Georgia, with similar allegations.
After the November 2020 election, Republican Trump refused to acknowledge his defeat against Democrat Joe Biden. Rather, he made allegations of massive electoral fraud, which have often been refuted. Trump’s campaign against his election defeat culminated in the attack on the congressional seat in Washington by radical supporters of the elected incumbent on January 6, 2021.
Chutkan is scheduled to be the presiding judge of Trump’s trial in federal court in Washington. The trial would take place during the election campaign for the White House. Trump wants to run again and, according to polls, has the best chance of being nominated as presidential candidate again by his Republican Party.
Trump has already been indicted in four criminal cases this year. A civil lawsuit is currently underway in New York over allegations that the real estate entrepreneur has overstated the value of his properties for years.
But his legal entanglements have not hurt Trump so far. He describes himself as a victim of a justice system controlled by party politics and has repeatedly used his court dates for election campaign appearances.
