Special counsel Jack Smith asks the Supreme Court to rule quickly on whether Trump can be prosecuted
Special counsel Jack Smith asks the Supreme Court to rule quickly on whether Trump can be prosecuted
A federal judge ruled the case could go forward, but the Republican ex-president signaled he would ask the federal appeals court in Washington to reverse that outcome.
Special counsel Jack Smith on Monday asked the Supreme Court to take up and rule quickly on whether former President Donald Trump can be prosecuted on charges he plotted to overturn the 2020 election results.
Smith made his request for the court to act with unusual speed to prevent any delays that could push back the trial of the 2024 Republican presidential primary front-runner, currently set to begin March 4, until after next year’s presidential election.
Later Monday, the justices indicated they would decide quickly whether to hear the case, ordering Trump’s lawyers to respond by Dec. 20. The court’s brief order did not signal what it ultimately would do.
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WTF? How is that even a question?
While he was president, there are protections against frivolous suits, to protect the office so it can function. But this???Smith intends to shortcut the appeals process by going straight to the top. And yes, this is unusual, but not without precedent. The Supreme Court told Nixon to get bent in a similar case.
Playing with fire a bit, but I have full faith in Smith. But think about it, what if I had your ass in court and said, "Fuck @Buffalox! Take his case to the Supreme Court and get a ruling that he's preemptively fucked, without recourse to lower courts." Smith said as much:
“The United States recognizes that this is an extraordinary request. This is an extraordinary case,” prosecutors wrote. “The Court should grant certiorari and set a briefing schedule that would permit this case to be argued and resolved as promptly as possible.”
The Court doesn't have to take it, and may not. If they don't, that means the lower court's ruling stays, "Hell yes Trump is able to be prosecuted." If they do, I still imagine they judge Trump open to prosecution. Just because they're conservative and he appointed them, they don't owe him jack shit. Like all the power players, they probably hate his guts. And unlike elected politicians, the justices have nothing to lose.
If they take the case, I'm eager to read the Alito/Thomas dissent
Alito: According to a legal tenet established in 1486, the law states unequivocally that fuck you, that's why.
Thomas: The winner at the close of bidding establishes unequivocally that Trump shouldn't go to jail.
This isn't a frivolous suit tho. The dude is a dyed-in-the-wool criminal.
No this is absolutely not frivolous, but even if it was, it should be up to the court to decide on normal terms. Trump is not the President of USA anymore.
How this is in any way considered a matter for supreme court is very weird IMO. I'm not an American, but it sounds unconstitutional to even ask.
Just asking the question, is putting Trump above the law to some degree.No, it's preemptively nipping any appeals shenanigans that Trump's legal team might try, leading up to the election.
The Dept. of Justice has a policy against indicting sitting Presidents but not necessarily former Presidents. Trump's lawyers are basically saying that since he was a sitting President during Jan 6, 2021, they shouldn't be able to indict him now that he's not longer a sitting President.
Right now they are spending a lot of time deciding whether Trump, when speaking to the masses was acting as a President or if he was campaigning for his new term as a private citizen, as well as, whether anyone but the actual sitting President at the time can even answer that question.
Trump's lawyers, at this moment, do not necessarily need to prove that the act isn't treason but only that he was the President and was acting as a President with his statements. If that entire line of defense is taken away, it severely weakens Trump's current defense strategy.