The Supreme Court on Friday said it will not fast-track consideration of Donald Trump’s claim that he has immunity from prosecution for actions he took as president, a question crucial to whether he can be put on trial for plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The court’s one-sentence order, from which there were no noted dissents, means a federal appeals court in Washington will be the first to review a district judge’s ruling earlier this month rejecting Trump’s claim of immunity. Arguments are scheduled for Jan. 9.
Special counsel Jack Smith had asked the justices to short-circuit the normal appellate process and quickly settle the question of presidential criminal immunity, which the Supreme Court previously has not been called upon to resolve. He said public interest required intervention now, so the federal election-obstruction trial of Trump — the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination — could proceed as scheduled in March.
Well said. This is something I was thinking recently when discussing the matter of Trump’s disqualification from being on the ballot with my partner – on the one hand, it’s tempting to think that the Conservative appointees would definitely rule in favor of Trump and that the 14th amendment doesn’t apply to him.
But on the other hand, at the end of the day isn’t Trump really just a useful idiot for the real power behind the Republican party? He certainly didn’t invent all the “issues” he ran on – he just co-opted them while (as you say) saying the quiet parts out loud. Now he’s getting even more divisive and a lot of people that previously thought he was harmless have seen how insane and dangerous he really is, even before January 6th.
With all that in mind, I think it’s more likely that SCOTUS will wind up ruling that Trump is indeed disqualified under the 14th amendment so they can finally get him out of the way of the more serious candidates that will do what they want.
And also protect their majority in the court by appearing unbiased.