Attorneys for former president Donald Trump informed the justices in court documents presented on Wednesday that their client is opposed to the special counsel’s motion to determine immediately whether Trump enjoys any immunity from federal prosecution for alleged crimes committed during his presidency.
Last Monday, special counsel Jack Smith requested that the high court examine a lower court’s decision that does not absolve Trump, despite his status as a former president, from the criminal charge of election subversion. The unusual step of evaluating the matter before a federal appeals court in Washington, DC, weighs in was requested by Smith in his appeal to the justices.
Trump, whose approach to the case’s legal proceedings has mainly been to postpone them, told the justices that Smith shouldn’t be able to bypass the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit and determine the crucial question on his own.
The Special Counsel is pleading with the court to disregard the established norms and processes, such as the long-established preference for a previous ruling by an appellate court, and to make a hasty decision without due process. Right now, there are a number of reasons why the Court should turn down that invitation, according to Trump’s legal team.