3:58 p.m. ET, April 15, 2024
Meanwhile, Trump resists calls for moving to trial in election subversion case in latest Supreme Court filing
Former President Donald Trump appears in court Monday at the start of his criminal trial.
Jabin Botsford/Pool/Getty Images
Donald Trump urged the Supreme Court on Monday to reject special counsel Jack Smith’s argument that the former president’s post-2020 election actions should be considered by a jury even if the court finds Trump is entitled to some degree of immunity.
What Smith said: Smith claimed in his own brief last week that Trump’s trial should proceed even if the court finds the former president is entitled to some degree of immunity. That’s because, Smith said, at least some of Trump’s efforts to overturn the election were private conduct, removed from his “official acts” as president that might be entitled to immunity.
What Trump’s team argues: Trump blasted Smith’s argument Monday, saying it would force courts to try to assess the motive of a former president. “This argument contradicts this court’s precedents,” Trump’s attorneys wrote. “Immunity does not turn on ‘the motivation for actual performance of [official] acts.’”
The case: The former president is hoping to delay a trial on federal charges that he attempted to subvert the results of the 2020 election. It is one of four criminal cases Trump faces.
More context: Trump’s latest brief was the final written argument expected to land before the justices hear oral arguments next week on whether Trump may claim immunity from Smith’s criminal charges in what has emerged as one of the high court’s most significant cases of the year.