The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave Jack Smith, the special counsel prosecuting former President Donald Trump, one week to respond to the former president’s emergency application asking the justices to halt an appeals court decision that rejected Trump’s claim that he is immune from criminal charges.
The high court’s decision to set a deadline for Smith to respond by next Tuesday at 4 p.m. suggests the justices are setting up a not-so-speedy schedule for a case that has already seen its early March trial date cast aside. The Supreme Court typically calls for speedy responses to emergency applications, though Smith’s office has routinely made its filings ahead of schedule.
Criminal proceedings against Trump in his trial on charges of attempting to subvert the 2020 election will remain paused in the meantime. Depending on whether the justices decide to grant the case for oral argument, the trial could be pushed into the middle of the 2024 campaign or even past the election.
“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,” Trump’s lawyer wrote in a 57-page filing to the high court on Monday, asking the justices to move deliberately.
Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, asked the court to take into account the campaign schedule and alleged Smith is attempting to interfere in the election with his bullish attempts to hold the trial before voters cast their ballots.
“Conducting a monthslong criminal trial of President Trump at the height of election season,” the filing said, “will radically disrupt President Trump’s ability to campaign against President Biden — which appears to be the whole point of the special counsel’s persistent demands for expedition.”
The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit panel, composed of two judges appointed by President Joe Biden and one appointed by a Republican president, firmly rejected Trump’s claim earlier this month that former presidents can have absolute immunity for actions that fall within their duties. That decision came nearly a month after the panel heard oral arguments over the dispute.
Trump’s trial was initially slated to begin on March 4, but presiding U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan removed it from the calendar. If the justices decline Trump’s request to stay proceedings, the pretrial proceedings will resume at the federal district court in Washington.
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The former president has sought to have four federal charges against him in the 2020 election subversion case thrown out because he claims to have “absolute” immunity from prosecution, arguing the immunity should apply because the charges involve actions he took while president.
Trump is facing three other criminal indictments that altogether amount to 91 charges. He has pleaded not guilty in each of the cases.