Former President Donald Trump scored a legal and political win on Wednesday after the Supreme Court decided to consider whether former presidents should be immune from prosecution for official actions they take while in office.
The Supreme Court’s decision in Trump’s federal 2020 election case could push the trial past Election Day — a major win for the 45th president mired in what he has called “lawfare” from political opponents.
The criminal case, in which prosecutors claim Trump tried to illegally overturn the 2020 election, will have its arguments set for late April. That could set the jury trial for after the November election, a serious blow to Trump’s political opponents.
Of the four criminal cases Trump faces, the only one with a trial date that seems poised to hold is a New York state prosecution charging him with falsifying business records in connection with hush-money payments to a porn star, slated to begin in late March.
A look at what’s ahead:
CAN THE TRIAL HAPPEN BEFORE THE ELECTION?
Maybe. But possibly not.
If the court rejects Trump’s immunity claim, the timing of the justices’ decision will be crucial in determining whether it’s possible for the case to go to jurors before November.
The justices’ decision to fast-track the case means a trial could potentially start by late summer or early fall if the high court quickly rules Trump can be charged. But if the court waits weeks to issue its ruling, as is typical, it is unclear whether the case could be scheduled or completed before the election.
The case has been on hold while Trump pursues his immunity appeals, meaning no pre-trial preparations have been taking place since mid-December. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan is expected to give prosecutors and defense attorneys at least three months to get ready for trial if the case returns to her court. And more pre-trial legal battles are certain even after the case resumes in her court.
Even after it begins, the trial is likely to take months, meaning it would likely threaten to run up against the election if it doesn’t begin by August. Special counsel Jack Smith’s team has said the government’s case should take no longer than four to six weeks, but that doesn’t include any defense Trump could put on.
And jury selection alone could take weeks.
It’s not all smooth sailing for Trump. The Supreme Court has acted fast in other consequential cases. In the Watergate tapes case in 1974, the court issued a decision just 16 days after hearing arguments. The decision in Bush v. Gore came the day after arguments in December 2000.
WHAT IS THE LEGAL ISSUE AT STAKE?
The Supreme Court has agreed to decide a legally untested question: whether former presidents are immune from prosecution for official acts they take in office. The Supreme Court has previously ruled that presidents are immune from civil liability for official acts.
Chutkan squarely rejected Trump’s claim’s of absolute immunity, saying in December that the office of the presidency does not confer a “lifelong ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ pass.”
Trump’s attorneys have repeatedly warned of a potential floodgate of prosecutions against former presidents if they’re not entitled to immunity.
Trump’s team has also asked a federal judge in Florida overseeing a separate case regarding classified documents to dismiss the case on the same immunity grounds.
The timing of the trial — and whether Trump will be forced to sit in a Washington courtroom in the weeks leading up to the election — carries huge political ramifications.
If Trump secures the GOP nomination and defeats Biden in November, he could potentially try to order a new attorney general to dismiss the federal cases against him or he could even seek a pardon for himself — though that is a legally untested proposition.
Smith’s team didn’t mention the election in its filing urging the Supreme Court to reject Trump’s effort to further delay the case. But prosecutors noted that the case has “unique national importance,” adding that “delay in the resolution of these charges threatens to frustrate the public interest in a speedy and fair verdict.”
Trump, meanwhile, has accused Smith of trying to rush the case to trial for political reasons.
Trump’s lawyers told the Supreme Court in their filing that holding the trial “at the height of election season will radically disrupt President Trump’s ability to campaign against President Biden — which appears to be the whole point of the Special Counsel’s persistent demands for expedition.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article