The US Supreme Court said it will rule on Donald Trump’s bid for immunity from criminal prosecution, taking up a historic case that will determine whether the former president stands trial for 2020 election interference while campaigning for a return to the White House.
The move keeps Trump’s trial in Washington on hold while the high court hears arguments on an expedited basis. Trump has been pushing to delay any trial until after the November election as the presidential campaign kicks into high gear.
The court said it will hear arguments the week of April 22, a schedule that could still allow for a trial before the election, though with little margin for further delays. The Supreme Court term typically ends in late June, though the justices could rule before then.
The Supreme Court’s decision to tackle the immunity question is a setback for Special Counsel Jack Smith, though not necessarily a fatal one for his case. Smith had urged the justices to turn Trump away and let the trial begin. As an alternative, Smith said the court should hear arguments on a fast-track basis, urging a March argument date.
Smith’s office declined to comment Wednesday. Trump was pleased about the decision and started fundraising about an hour after the news.
“Without Presidential Immunity, a President will not be able to properly function,” Trump said in a post on social media.
The Supreme Court has never taken up the question of whether a former president is immune from criminal charges for actions taken while in office. The case will be the court’s second unprecedented Trump showdown this year, joining a clash over the ability of states to bar him from the ballot because of his role in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
The court said in its one-page order it will consider: “Whether and if so to what extent does a former President enjoy presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office.”
The justices’ decision raises the prospect that the trial could slip past November, which would provide Trump with a reprieve. If Trump becomes president before a resolution, he could order the Justice Department to drop the case.
The Washington case is one of four criminal prosecutions Trump is facing, including a similar election case under state law in Georgia. Trump is set to go to trial March 25 in New York state court in a criminal case centering on alleged hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Trump has used court appearances to drive home his message, often speaking to the press outside courtrooms before and after hearings. But his legal troubles have also hamstrung his reelection campaign. More than $27 million from Trump-affiliated fundraising committees went to pay legal fees in the last six months of 2023, rather than toward his political activities.
More than half of voters in seven swing states say they wouldn’t vote for Trump if he were convicted of a crime, according to a recent Bloomberg News / Morning Consult poll.
At the Supreme Court, Trump is challenging a federal appeals court decision letting him be prosecuted for allegedly trying to remain in power illegally. The 3-0 ruling said Trump’s immunity claim would give him “unbounded authority to commit crimes that would neutralize the most fundamental check on executive power — the recognition and implementation of election results.”
Trump’s lawyers told the justices that “if the prosecution of a president is upheld, such prosecutions will recur and become increasingly common, ushering in destructive cycles of recrimination.”
Trump contends he was acting within his official capacity as president during the lead-up to the Capitol assault. He points to a 1982 Supreme Court ruling that said, with regard to civil suits, presidents have complete immunity for actions taken within the “outer perimeter” of their official duties.
Special Counsel Smith called Trump’s immunity claim “extraordinary,” saying it would upend long-held understandings about presidential accountability and the Constitution, particularly given the nature of the allegations. Smith said that “from the inception of the nation,” all presidents have understood that they could be prosecuted for any criminal violations after they left office.
“The charged crimes strike at the heart of our democracy,” Smith argued. “A president’s alleged criminal scheme to overturn an election and thwart the peaceful transfer of power to his successor should be the last place to recognize a novel form of absolute immunity from federal criminal law.”
The schedule set out by the court is less aggressive than the one it adopted for the Colorado ballot case. In that case, the court heard arguments 36 days after Trump filed his appeal. In the immunity clash, the session will be at least 70 days after Trump brought the case to the high court.
The case is Trump v. United States, 23A745.
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