By John Kruzel
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged the U.S. Supreme Court docket to reject a request by federal prosecutors to right away evaluation his declare that he can’t be prosecuted for making an attempt to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
Trump made the court docket submitting in response to a rare request by U.S. Particular Counsel Jack Smith that if granted would put Trump’s declare of legal immunity earlier than the justices whilst a decrease court docket races to rule on the difficulty.
Trump requested the justices to reject Smith’s request for the Supreme Court docket to weigh in earlier than the decrease appeals court docket does, which might lavatory down the authorized course of and delay the beginning of his trial, presently set for March.
Prosecutors have accused Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, of trying to hinder Congress and defraud the U.S. authorities by means of schemes to reverse Democratic President Joe Biden’s November 2020 election win.
Trump’s legal professionals wrote within the submitting that the particular counsel is urging the justices to bypass the conventional appellate course of, together with a call by the U.S. Circuit Court docket of Appeals for the District of Columbia, “and rush to resolve the problems with reckless abandon. The court docket ought to decline that invitation at the moment.”
Trump has argued that the case needs to be dismissed on the grounds that former presidents can’t face legal expenses for conduct associated to their official obligations.
U.S. District Choose Tanya Chutkan rejected that declare on Dec. 1, prompting Trump to attraction to a Washington-based federal appeals court docket.
Smith on Dec. 11 urged the Supreme Court docket to undertake an expedited ruling as a way to keep away from delaying the trial.
If Trump is reelected to the White Home on Nov. 5, he might search to pardon himself of any federal crimes.
Trump’s attraction to the U.S. Court docket of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit suspended his trial. Smith informed the justices in a written submitting that claims by Trump are “profoundly mistaken,” and that solely the Supreme Court docket “can definitively resolve them.”
Three of the 9 Supreme Court docket justices have been appointed by Trump, who cemented a 6-3 conservative majority.
Trump contends that this case and three different legal prosecutions he faces are politically motivated. He has pleaded not responsible to all expenses.
(Reporting by John Kruzel; Enhancing by Scott Malone and Grant McCool)
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