The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday deferred a decision on whether former president Donald Trump is immune from prosecution on election-interference charges, leaving it to a federal appeals court to decide the matter for now.
In a win for Trump, who has sought to delay his various ongoing legal battles, the Court denied special counsel Jack Smith’s request to bypass the normal appeals court process by swiftly deciding the question.
“This case presents a fundamental question at the heart of our democracy: whether a former president is absolutely immune from federal prosecution for crimes committed while in office or is constitutionally protected from federal prosecution when he has been impeached but not convicted before the criminal proceedings begin,” Smith wrote in a filing to the Court on December 11.
While Smith called for the Court to immediately examine the matter, Trump’s lawyers argued Smith had given “no compelling reason” as to why the justices should circumvent the appeals court process.
The dispute between the prosecution and defense comes after Washington, D.C.-based U.S. district court judge Tanya Chutkan earlier this month rejected Trump’s motion to dismiss his election-interference indictment on presidential immunity and constitutional grounds. The case is currently on pause while Trump appeals Chutkan’s decision.
Now that the Supreme Court has refused to intervene, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will hear oral arguments on the issue on January 9. Once the appeals court gives its ruling, the High Court could take up the case.
The federal case, which accuses Trump of conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election, is slated to begin trial on March 4, although the trial date could be pushed back depending on the result of the appeals proceedings. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the following four charges: conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction, and conspiracy against the right to vote and to have one’s vote counted.