Trump,the first former president to be criminally prosecuted,is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination to challenge Biden,a Democrat,in the November 5 election.
The case once again thrusts the nation’s top judicial body into the election fray,as the justices are due to issue a ruling on whether to overturn a decision by Colorado’s top court that barred Trump from the state’s Republican primary ballot based on a constitutional provision regarding insurrection.
The justices set the case for oral argument during the week of April 22 on a single question:“Whether and if so to what extent does a former president enjoy presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office.”
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on February 6 ruled 3-0 against Trump’s immunity claim,rejecting his bid for “unbounded authority to commit crimes that would neutralise the most fundamental check on executive power — the recognition and implementation of election results”.
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Smith in August 2023 brought four federal criminal counts against Trump in the election subversion case. A March 4 trial date was postponed as Trump pressed his immunity claim,with no new date yet set. He has trials pending in three other criminal cases. Trump has pleaded not guilty in all of them,seeking to portray them as politically motivated. His lawyers asked the Supreme Court on February 12.
They said a months-long criminal trial would “radically disrupt” Trump’s ability to campaign against Biden. They also warned of dire consequences for future presidents if Trump’s prosecution is allowed such as partisan prosecutions,extortion,blackmail and more.