(UnitedHeadlines.com) – On April 8, Special Counsel Jack Smith urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject former President Donald Trump’s request for immunity from the charges he attempted to overturn the 2020 election results.
In his 66-page filing, Smith states that Trump’s “novel and sweeping” immunity claim runs against the notion “that no person is above the law.” Smith argued that former presidents do not have presidential immunity from charges and can face “potential criminal liability for official acts.”
In his filing, Smith also attempted to account for the Supreme Court potentially ruling that presidents have a certain level of immunity by saying that the immunity should not apply in the case against Trump.
Trump’s lawyers have argued that Smith could not charge Trump because his actions pertained to his official duties. They stated that “every future president” would be incapacitated if presidents were subject to criminal prosecution. His lawyers also argued the case against him amounted to double jeopardy because of Trump’s impeachment by the House of Representatives for his actions on Jan. 6, 2021.
Last summer, Trump was indicted by a federal grand jury on four felony counts related to his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Based on a claim of presidential immunity, Trump attempted to have the charges against him dismissed in October. However, in December, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected that claim. In February, Trump’s argument that former presidents have “absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for his official acts” was unanimously rejected by a federal appeals panel.
The Supreme Court Justices are set to hear oral arguments in the case on April 25. The appeals have delayed the start of the trial, which had been scheduled to begin in March. The charges against Trump could be dismissed if the Supreme Court rules in favor of Trump’s immunity claim.
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