Legal experts mostly expected the Supreme Court to turn down Jack Smith’s request for fast-track arguments on Trump’s immunity claims, but Trump may not get the long delay that he is seeking.
Chris Geidner tweeted:
My take: This pushes things a bit, but the DC Circuit arguments are Jan 9. That appeals court has been very quick in its resolution of these cases; I imagine we’ll be back to SCOTUS by the end of January. Not what Smith wanted, but not a huge delay. (See also: No noted dissents.)
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) December 22, 2023
Andrew Weissmann posted:
Not surprising given the speed of DC Circuit review (argument on 1/9) BUT the issue is will S Ct expedite review AFTER the DC Circuit rules. If it doesn’t, there are too many ways for Trump to slow the appeals process down to delay any pre election trial. https://t.co/Tr7xb2VwCP
— Andrew Weissmann (weissmann11 on Threads)🌻 (@AWeissmann_) December 22, 2023
The Supreme Court ducked the question for now, but as Weissmann pointed out, the big question is will they continue to duck the question in the near future. This argument is going to come up to the Court again, likely after the Circuit court rules against Trump.
It is very likely that the court will rule against Trump because he has lost every single immunity claim that he has brought so far, but the point of the immunity claims isn’t for Trump to win. Trump is trying to drag this case out until after election.
The delay strategy tells observers a lot about how Trump and his lawyers view his odds of beating the case. If Trump thought that he had a great defense, he would be rushing to rushing to trial be found not guilty before the 2024 general election campaign begins.
Trump held off having his defense shattered for now, but it remains to be seen whether he will be able to play the court system through election day 2024.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
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