Special Counsel asks Supreme Court to rule on Trump's presidential immunity in Jan. 6 and election cases

Jack Smith, the Special Counsel appointed by the Justice Department, asked the Supreme Court on Monday to rule on whether former President Donald Trump can be prosecuted on charges that he allegedly attempted to subvert the 2020 election results.

A U.S. District Court judge ruled that the case could proceed, but the former president’s lawyers implied they would challenge that by filing an appeal to reverse the decision.

For avoidance of further delay, Smith is now trying to skip the appeals court by asking for a writ of certiorari at the Supreme Court, The Associated Press reported.

Trump had already moved to halt judicial proceedings while appealing U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chulkan’s ruling, which assessed that he does not have presidential immunity just because the actions he’s being charged with took place while he was still in the White House.

“This case presents a fundamental question at the heart of our democracy: whether a former President is absolutely immune from federal prosecution for crimes committed while in office or is constitutionally protected from federal prosecution when he has been impeached but not convicted before the criminal proceedings begin,” federal prosecutors wrote in their motion.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all federal criminal charges related to the Jan. 6, 202, Capitol riot and the 2020 presidential election.

His trial is still currently scheduled for March 4 and the earliest the Supreme Court could hear the case would be Jan. 5, when the justices hold their next private conference.

Jack Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland on Nov. 18, 2022 by Order 5559-2022, which charged the special counsel with “the ongoing investigation into whether any person or entity violated the law in connection with efforts to interfere with the lawful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election or the certification of the Electoral College vote held on or about January 6, 2021, as well as any matters that arose or might arise directly from this investigation…”