Supreme Court declines special counsel Jack Smith's request in Trump election interference case

The United States Supreme Court has denied a request from special counsel Jack Smith to expeditiously review former President Donald Trump's presidential immunity arguments, meaning that a criminal trial in that case will likely not be held before the upcoming election, as Smith had clearly hoped. The Supreme Court may still eventually decide the issue, but declined Smith's unusual request to issue a final ruling on the issue before an appeals court had weighed in.

The court's decision did not include any explanation or dissents.

Trump's legal team had argued that all charges against him should be dropped on the basis that he was acting in his official capacity when he took the actions that form the basis of Smith's investigation, and is thus immune from criminal prosecution for those actions.

U.S. District Court judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing that case, rejected that argument, but Trump's team had appealed to the D.C. Circuit, which has set an expedited hearing on the matter for January. It is unclear how long it will take the D.C. Circuit to rule, but it would seem highly unlikely that the Circuit court could issue a ruling, which might then itsellf be appealed to the Supreme Court, in time for the March 2024 trial date to move forward, particularly in light of Judge Chutkan's apparent willingness to delay further proceedings while the appeals process on this question plays out.

The decision is a win for Trump's team, which is clearly trying to push as many of his criminal trials past election day 2024 as possible. Regardless of the outcome in this case, Trump faces potential trials in state court in Georgia, brought by prosecutors in Fulton County, a potential May trial on separate charges related to Trump's handling of classified information at Mar-a-Lago, and a potential trial in New York for allegedly falsifying business records related to an alleged hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.