Supreme Court to not rule on Trump immunity yet

The Star

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday (Dec 22) declined to immediately decide former President Donald Trump's claim that he cannot be prosecuted for trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat, allowing a lower court to continue reviewing the issue.   WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00 The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday shot down a request to immediately decide a critical

00:06 question in a federal criminal case facing former President Donald Trump, whether he

00:11 is immune from prosecution for actions he took trying to overturn his 2020 election

00:17 defeat.

00:18 U.S. Special Jack Smith asked the Supreme Court to rule on the matter quickly, rather

00:24 than wait for the question to wind its way up through the federal appeals courts.

00:28 The justices rebuffed that request, without explanation and a brief one-page order.

00:34 No justice publicly dissented.

00:36 The justices could still decide to consider the issue later.

00:40 A spokesperson for Smith declined to comment.

00:43 A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

00:48 It's a win for Trump, for now.

00:50 Trump has argued that the case should be dismissed on the grounds that former presidents cannot

00:55 face criminal charges related to their official responsibilities.

00:59 But his first claim of immunity in court was rejected by a U.S. district judge on December

01:05 1, prompting Trump's appeal.

01:08 That appeal suspended his trial, currently set for March.

01:12 In a bid to avoid delaying Trump's trial, Smith on December 11 urged the Supreme Court

01:17 to undertake an expedited ruling, even as the D.C. Circuit Court races to rule on the

01:23 issue.

01:24 Prosecutors have accused Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination,

01:32 of attempting to obstruct Congress and defraud the U.S. government through schemes to reverse

01:37 Democratic President Joe Biden's 2020 election win.

01:42 Three of the nine Supreme Court justices were appointed by Trump, who cemented a 6-3 conservative

01:48 majority.

01:50 If Trump is re-elected to the White House on November 5, he could seek to pardon himself

01:55 of any federal crimes.

01:57 For more information visit www.fema.gov.

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