The appeal has to do with President Trump’s presidential immunity defense in one of two cases prosecuted by special counsel Jack Smith.
The Supreme Court agreed on Feb. 28 to hear a second case concerning former President Donald Trump, with far-reaching implications for his 2024 court schedule.
President Trump is facing four criminal indictments, the first of which will go to trial in less than a month, plus several other civil cases—all while campaigning for the presidency again with his eligibility still in question.
Already on the Supreme Court’s plate is whether President Trump can be disqualified as a candidate by individual states after the Colorado Supreme Court disqualified him for engaging in “insurrection” under a Civil War-era statute.
Experts say it’s no secret the prosecutors want a trial before the general election, and that President Trump all but avoids trial entirely if he wins reelection.
Scott Lemieux, a professor of political science at the University of Washington, told Business Insider that even if the High Court rejects the immunity defense, President Trump “fundamentally still wins because he manages to avoid a trial before the election.”
Andrew Weissmann, former FBI general counsel, told MSNBC there was “no way somebody like Jack Smith” isn’t “thinking through how to get this case through to trial before the general election.”
“I’m sure right now they’re preparing a motion so that as soon as the Supreme Court has made its decision they basically tell Judge Chutkan to please review this one-to-one.”
Late April Hearing Scheduled
The latest appeal the Supreme Court agreed to hear has to do with President Trump’s presidential immunity defense in one of two cases prosecuted by special counsel Jack Smith.
President Trump was charged with four counts of conspiracy and obstruction for his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, and pleaded not guilty.
The case was originally scheduled to go to trial on March 4, beginning jury selection just one day before the Super Tuesday primaries across the nation.
It has since been taken off the calendar, allowing a New York judge to move forward with scheduling a March 25 trial for President Trump in a case alleging he mishandled business documents.
