US Supreme Court rejects fast-track action against Trump – DW – December 23, 2023

In the controversy over the potential immunity of the former US president Donald Trump Against the alleged electoral fraud, the US Supreme Court quickly declined to hear the case. The court rejected special counsel Jack Smith's request to quickly resolve the immunity issue. The Supreme Court did not explain its decision in a single sentence.

The start of the trial in March was illusory

This means that the planned early March date for the election fraud trial against Trump in the US capital Washington is no longer possible. The decision is a blow to special counsel Smith, who has sued Trump for efforts to alter the election results. Presidential Election 2020 Accused of overturning. Smith had asked the Supreme Court to quickly clarify whether Trump can be sued at the federal level for his conduct since the election three years ago — or whether he is protected by his presidential immunity.

Trump supporters storm the Capitol building in Washington on January 6, 2021. Congress met there to formally confirm the victory of Democrat Joe Biden in the presidential election. Trump fired up his supporters during an earlier speech. As a result of the riots, five people died.

Trump's lawyers argued that he could not legally be sued for actions that were part of his duties as a Republican president. However, the judge in charge of the case rejected the relevant application. The Trump team appealed the decision again — which means it's now up to the appeals court.

Smith noted the appeal

But Special Counsel Smith chose an unusual path: He chose to bypass the Court of Appeals and go directly to the Supreme Court with a request to quickly resolve the issue: “This case involves issues of exceptional national importance.” Because judges in Washington rejected his application, the appeal must now go through the courts, which could take a long time.

The Court of Appeal hearing is scheduled for January 9. The case is expected to return to the Supreme Court after the court's decision. This is the first time the U.S. Supreme Court has addressed the question of whether former presidents are immune from federal prosecution.

Trump, who else? with additional criminal charges Wants to get back into the White House for Republicans. The 77-year-old is leading in internal party polls – with primaries for the candidate starting in a few weeks. So far everything points to a new version of the election campaign between Trump and the current president Biden there. Trump hopes to delay the charges against him until after the election. If he wins the U.S. presidential election, he could ask the then-incumbent attorney general to drop the federal investigation against him.

Trump is also under pressure in Michigan

Meanwhile, the news from the Detroit News newspaper has created more excitement. The newspaper wrote about an audio recording of Trump from November 2020 that it said it had. It is said that Trump pressured two officials not to confirm the election results for an important district in the US state of Michigan. Trump's call fits the Republican pattern at a time when officials, election workers and politicians are being pressured not to accept the results of the presidential election. Trump still doesn't recognize his defeat against Biden and is spreading lies about a “stolen” election.

sti/wa (afp, dpa, rtr)