The Supreme Court is set to hear former president Donald Trump’s presidential immunity case, beginning with arguments, in April.
SCOTUS granted Trump certiorari Wednesday to consider his case about whether the president is immune from alleged criminal activity during his time in office. The court’s one-page order does not have any dissent or an explanation of its decision. Petitioner’s briefs and amicus briefs are to be filed by March 19, and the respondent’s briefs and amicus briefs must be filed by April 8. The deadline for reply briefs is April 15.
Trump petitioned the court earlier this month to review his presidential-immunity case after a D.C. appellate court unanimously ruled Trump is not protected from criminal prosecution by special counsel Jack Smith, who is attempting to bring Trump to trial at some point this year. The trial in D.C. could take months, and it was originally scheduled to begin in early March until Trump’s immunity appeal delayed the start date.
“For the purpose of this criminal case, former President Trump has become citizen Trump, with all of the defenses of any other criminal defendant,” the judges said in a 57-page opinion. “But any executive immunity that may have protected him while he served as President no longer protects him against this prosecution.”
He is facing criminal charges in D.C. for contesting the 2020 election results and could stand trial before the 2024 election, depending on how quickly the Supreme Court rules. His trial proceedings in the D.C. election interference case will be put on hold until the justices make a decision. Smith is also prosecuting Trump in Florida on criminal charges related to his mishandling of classified documents after his presidency concluded. Trump has routinely attacked Smith and accused him of orchestrating a politicized prosecution designed to interfere in the 2024 election.
Trump is the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee, and he is set to face off against President Joe Biden in a rematch of the 2020 election. Trump’s criminal charges will likely play a major role in the general election campaign against Biden and consume a significant amount of his campaign’s financial resources.
The former president is simultaneously facing criminal charges for his efforts to overturn the 2020 Georgia election results, but Fulton County DA Fani Willis’s love affair with special prosecutor Nathan Wade has jeopardized that case.
Colorado’s Supreme Court ruled in December to remove Trump from the state’s primary ballot based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment barring insurrectionists from holding office. The Supreme Court is expected to reverse the decision resoundingly after the justices appeared to be deeply skeptical of the case during oral arguments.