Former President Donald J. Trump asked the Supreme Court on Monday to pause an appeals court’s ruling rejecting his claim that he is absolutely immune from criminal charges based on his attempts to subvert the 2020 election.
Unless the justices issue a stay while they consider whether to hear his promised appeal, proceedings in the criminal trial, which have been on hold, will resume.
The filing was Mr. Trump’s last-ditch effort to press his claim of total immunity, which has been rejected by two lower courts. The Supreme Court is now poised to determine whether and how fast his federal trial on charges that he tried to subvert the 2020 election will proceed. Unless the justices move quickly, the trial could be pushed into the heart of the 2024 campaign, or even past the election.
The Supreme Court is the final appeals court, so it makes sense that they can be asked to review cases like this. However, in this case I certainly hope they do the logical thing and pass on hearing this case since the appeals court clearly got it right.
This is the second time this question was tossed at SCOTUS. SCOTUS denied hearing the motion the first time around before the trail even began. I’ve yet to hear a convincing argument on why the high court would change their mind on the matter.