Trump asked the Supreme Court to rule on “absolute immunity” in the case he contributed to the attack on the Capitol.

Former President Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to block a lower court ruling that denied him “absolute immunity” and prevent him from being accused of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results and his role in the US uprising. January 6, 2021.

“The claim that presidents enjoy absolute immunity from criminal proceedings for their official acts (…) presents a novel, complex and important issue that requires careful consideration on appeal,” the appeals claim states.

“Without criminal impunity, the presidency would cease to exist,” lawyers repeated, arguments that have so far failed in federal courts.

With the appeal, attorneys seek to overturn a February 6 appeals court ruling that rejected Trump's criminal immunity, reopening the possibility of a retrial in Washington for trying to sway the results of elections that the Republican Party lost to Democrats. President Joe Biden.

Trump had until Monday to challenge the decision by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, which said that once the former president left the White House, he became just another “citizen” and was therefore no longer protected by the immunity he held in office. .

With the action filed Monday, Trump's lawyers seek to reverse that decision and thus delay any judicial process against him, since a Trump victory over Biden would make him head of the administration and give him the power to issue orders. His attorney general to dismiss the federal charges against him.

In addition, Trump's legal team has cited partisan motives for filing a speedy trial.

“Conducting a month-long criminal investigation against President Trump in the middle of an election season would seriously undermine President Trump's ability to campaign against President Biden, which appears to be the target of the special counsel's expedited requests,” the former president's lawyers said. wrote in the appeal.

Trump's strategy of delaying investigations has already worked, and the judicial process against him for election meddling led by District of Columbia Judge Tanya Sutgan has been stalled since December.

The case was scheduled to begin on March 4, but has been adjourned without a new date being set.
In the face of Trump's efforts, special counsel Jack Smith, who is in charge of the case, is pushing for a trial this year.

The conservative-majority Supreme Court justices had already rejected Smith's request in December to intervene in a case over presidential immunity.

Now, faced with Trump's request, the justices have several options: refuse to directly consider the case, temporarily freeze the judicial process against Trump while they discuss the issue of presidential immunity, and hold a hearing to hear the parties' arguments.

The results could determine whether or not the former president faces trial in Washington before next November's election.