‘No sound reason’ to delay immunity review

Left: The U.S. Supreme Court February 2022. AP File Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)/Top right: Former President Donald Trump speaks during a commit to caucus rally, Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023, in Waterloo, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)/Bottom right: Special counsel Jack Smith speaks to the media about an indictment of former President Donald Trump, Aug. 1, 2023. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite.

Special counsel Jack Smith has again urged the U.S. Supreme Court to take up “immediate” review of Donald Trump’s claim to immunity from criminal prosecution, arguing that there is “no sound reason” to delay as the former president has requested.

The 14-page filing comes on the heels of a brief from the former president which asked the high court to hold off on Smith’s request for oral arguments on the so-called “absolute immunity” defense. Trump says “absolute immunity” afforded to him in his official duties as president precludes him from facing criminal charges tied to an alleged conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

A lower court judge presiding over Trump’s indictment in Washington, D.C., Judge Tanya Chutkan, found those arguments lacking and rejected them. Notably, the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., also rejected the notion of Trump’s total immunity in a similar but separate case earlier this month.

Smith is short on explaining why there should not be a delay beyond extolling the intense public interest in the matter.

“This court’s immediate review of that question is the only way to achieve its timely and definitive resolution,” they added. “The public interest in a prompt resolution of this case favors an immediate, definitive decision by this court. The charges here are of the utmost gravity. This case involves — for the first time in our nation’s history — criminal charges against a former president based on his actions while in office,” Smith wrote.