Photo: Alamy
Attorneys for President Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Monday to temporarily halt a lower court ruling rejecting his immunity from prosecution over the 2020 election allegations.
“Conducting a months-long criminal trial of President Trump at the height of election season will radically disrupt President Trump’s ability to campaign” against President Biden, Trump’s attorneys stated in their request, according to Reuters. “Without immunity from criminal prosecution, the Presidency as we know it will cease to exist.”
The D.C. Circuit unanimously rejected Trump’s claims last week that he was immune from alleged 2020 election subversion charges, according to CNN. The ruling from the lower court appeared before a three-judge panel, with the investigation presented by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
“We cannot accept that the office of the Presidency places its former occupants above the law for all time thereafter,” the D.C. court previously wrote. “Former President Trump lacked any lawful discretionary authority to defy federal criminal law and he is answerable in court for his conduct.”
Following the decision from the D.C. judges, the court gave Trump until Monday to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court before it would end Trump’s attempt to throw Smith’s case out and restart proceedings within the federal district court, according to CNBC.
The 45th president’s attorneys, however, claimed within their request that the D.C. ruling “threatens immediate irreparable injury to the First Amendment interests of President Trump and tens of millions of American voters, who are entitled to hear President Trump’s campaign message as they decide how to cast their ballots in November.”
CNN reported that in addition to the request to the Supreme Court, Trump reportedly stated that he may pursue two legal avenues: appealing to SCOTUS and potentially having a separate rehearing before the D.C. court.
Depending on how the Supreme Court responds, the decision may determine if Trump will be put on trial for criminal allegations while seeking presidential office.
