Prosecutors are asking the Supreme Court to speed up its consideration of whether Trump is immune from criminal charges for trying to overturn the 2020 election.
Topline
The Justice Department once again argued the Supreme Court should quickly take up the issue over whether former President Donald Trump is immune from the federal criminal charges against him for trying to overturn the 2020 election, saying in a court filing Thursday that Trump’s opposition is “misguided” and false.Key Facts
Trump is trying to dismiss the federal charges against him for trying to overturn the 2020 election by claiming he has presidential immunity—which U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan shot down, ruling Trump’s presidency doesn’t give him the “divine right of kings to evade the criminal accountability that governs his fellow citizens.”
Trump appealed that ruling and Chutkan put the case on hold as a result, leading the DOJ to ask the Supreme Court to immediately hear the dispute now, before an appeals court can rule, to keep Trump’s March 2024 trial date as on-schedule as possible.
Trump—who has tried to delay his criminal trials until after the 2024 election—has strongly opposed that request, telling the Supreme Court in a filing Wednesday it should wait to rule and the DOJ only wants to speed through the case for “partisan” reasons.
Prosecutors hit back in a court filing Thursday, calling the partisan motivations “unfounded and incorrect,” saying Trump “stands accused of serious crimes” and prosecutors want the allegations against Trump to be “promptly resolved, whatever the result.
