Special counsel Jack Smith has one week to respond to former President Donald Trump’s latest appeal.
The New York Times explains:
In asking Mr. Smith to respond by next Tuesday at 4 p.m., the justices did not set a particularly speedy schedule. The court often asks for quicker responses to emergency applications on what critics call its shadow docket. But nothing prevents Mr. Smith from filing sooner, and he probably will.
The proceedings against Mr. Trump in his criminal trial on charges of trying to subvert the 2020 election will remain frozen in the meantime. Unless the justices move quickly, the trial could be pushed into the heart of the 2024 campaign, or even past the election.
In asking the Supreme Court to intervene on Monday, Mr. Trump’s lawyers urged the justices to move at a deliberate pace.
“President Trump’s claim that presidents have absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for their official acts presents a novel, complex and momentous question that warrants careful consideration on appeal,” Mr. Trump’s application said.
Trump hopes the court will overturn a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that rejected his bid for absolute presidential immunity.
The appellate panel unanimously dismissed Trump’s immunity claims, stating that affording the GOP front-runner such power “would collapse our system of separated powers by placing the President beyond the reach of all three Branches.”
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
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