Special counsel Jack Smith urges Supreme Court to reject Trump bid to delay election trial

WASHINGTON — Special counsel Jack Smith asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to reject an emergency application filed by Donald Trump that sought to further delay the former president's criminal trial arising from efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Smith filed his response to Trump's request six days ahead of the deadline imposed by the court. The former president wants more time to litigate his claim that the federal indictment should be dismissed on the grounds of presidential immunity.

Trump's bid to put on hold an appeals court ruling that rejected his immunity claim fails to meet the necessary requirements for the Supreme Court to intervene, Smith said in his filing.

"Delay in the resolution of these charges threatens to frustrate the public interest in a speedy and fair verdict — a compelling interest in every criminal case and one that has unique national importance here," Smith wrote.

The case, he added, "involves federal criminal charges against a former president for alleged criminal efforts to overturn the results of the presidential election, including through the use of official power."

Smith said that if the court is inclined to grant Trump's request, it should immediately take the case up on an expedited schedule and issue a ruling "as promptly as possible" so a trial can go ahead.

He suggested the court could hear oral arguments as soon as next month, giving time for a ruling before the end of June, when the court's term typically concludes.

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a ruling against Trump on the immunity issue on Feb. 6. The three-judge panel gave Trump time to file an emergency request at the Supreme Court that would prevent the decision from going into effect.

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Washington-based U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan had originally scheduled the trial for March 4. It is one of four criminal cases that Trump is fighting.

If Trump wins the election, he would be in a position to order that the charges in the Washington case be dismissed. If he were already convicted, he could seek to pardon himself.

Trump’s lawyers say that presidents should have total immunity for official acts as president and that his actions in questioning the 2020 election results were part of his official duties. Among the legal questions lurking in his case is whether Trump’s attempts to interfere in the election constitute official acts.

If Trump’s prosecution is allowed, then “such prosecutions will recur and become increasingly common, ushering in destructive cycles of recrimination,” his lawyers wrote in his Supreme Court filing.