By John Kruzel
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Courtroom on Friday declined to right away resolve former President Donald Trump‘s declare that he can’t be prosecuted for attempting to overturn his 2020 election defeat, permitting a decrease court docket to proceed reviewing the problem.
The justices, rebuffing a rare request by U.S. Particular Counsel Jack Smith, refused to successfully leap-frog a decrease appeals court docket to hurry up a closing ruling on Trump’s declare of felony immunity forward of his trial, attributable to start in March.
The court docket issued its choice with out clarification in a short one-page order. No justice publicly dissented. The justices might nonetheless resolve to think about the problem later.
A federal appeals court docket in Washington has fast-tracked its consideration of the problem, and scheduled oral arguments for Jan. 9.
In a press release to supporters, Trump labeled the Supreme Courtroom choice as a victory however added “I’ll nonetheless must battle for my rights within the Appeals Courtroom.”
A spokesperson for Smith declined to remark.
Prosecutors have accused Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, of trying to impede Congress and defraud the U.S. authorities by schemes to reverse Democratic President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win.
Trump has argued that the case must be dismissed on the grounds that former presidents can not face felony prices for conduct associated to their official tasks.
U.S. District Decide Tanya Chutkan rejected that declare on Dec. 1, prompting Trump’s enchantment to the U.S. Courtroom of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Trump’s enchantment suspended his trial, at the moment set for March.
In a bid to keep away from delaying Trump’s trial, Smith on Dec. 11 urged the Supreme Courtroom to undertake an expedited ruling – even because the D.C. Circuit court docket races to rule on the problem.
If Trump is reelected to the White Home on Nov. 5, he might search to pardon himself of any federal crimes.
Trump’s legal professionals opposed Smith’s request, telling the justices in a court docket submitting the particular counsel’s bid to bypass the traditional appellate course of amounted to a “rush to resolve the problems with reckless abandon.”
Three of the 9 Supreme Courtroom justices had been appointed by Trump, who cemented a 6-3 conservative majority.
(Reporting by John Kruzel, Andrew Goudsward and Kanishka Singh ; Modifying by Scott Malone, Chizu Nomiyama and Daniel Wallis)
