Careful what you ask for, you just might get it. Donald Trump has been claiming for some time now that he has no liability for January 6, or a great many other things, due to presidential immunity. Legal scholars have weighed in on this topic and they agree with Judge Tanya Chutkan, that there is no protection available for Trump from that particular doctrine. But then along comes Jack Smith to cut to the chase. Why not, posits he, have the Supreme Court rule on the issue? That would be conclusive, would it not? Yes, it would and that’s why right-wing media is going banana batshit bonkers even thinking about it. Washington Post:
“The United States recognizes that this is an extraordinary request,” Smith wrote. “This is an extraordinary case.”
He added that, given the regular pace of the Supreme Court’s work, the justices might not hear the Trump immunity case until this summer or later if his request is not granted. […]
In the face of the four different indictments, Trump has denied guilt and tried to push his trials beyond election day in November. Smith’s latest legal gambit aims to keep the Washington trial on its current schedule. That schedule calls for Trump’s D.C. trial to begin one day before the Super Tuesday primary — underscoring how potentially messy next year’s political and legal calendars could be.
“It is of imperative public importance that respondent’s claims of immunity be resolved by this Court and that respondent’s trial proceed as promptly as possible if his claim of immunity is rejected,” the filing from Smith’s team argues. […]
Smith argued in the filing that Trump’s legal claims of immunity “are profoundly mistaken, as the district court held. But only this Court can definitively resolve them.”
That is true enough. And that’s what the right-wing media does not want to see.
If you would go back through this tweet and substitute the word EVERY where the word NO appears, then you would have the truth of the matter.
I guess Mark Levin is now a constitutional scholar. It seems the bar for that title has gotten considerably lower in recent years than it used to be. Jenna Ellis was adjudicating parking tickets before she lost that job and pronounced herself a constitutional scholar on Fox News and the rest is history.
If there was any real issue of presidential immunity offering him a shield, Trump would be dying for SCOTUS to resolve the matter once and for all, and in his favor. He would be thrilled at this notion. But the defense doesn’t exist outside of his fantasies and his fantasy life — and Fox News’ fantasy broadcasts — which are the status quo that both of them are desperately trying to maintain.
Also, the spigot of small-dollar donations might suddenly shut off if it was conclusively decided that Trump had no presidential immunity defense and was indeed on the hook like the yous and mes would be.
Look for this one to heat up. And I don’t see how SCOTUS can wriggle out of it, even if they wanted to. The court ruled swiftly on the student loan issue, on the Mississippi abortion law that led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade and on the proposed addition of a citizenship question to the census. This issue is far more important than any of those. This issue of presidential immunity could literally decide who’s on the GOP ballot in November, 2024 and of course that is why it’s so explosive.
Americans are supposed to somehow be blissfully ignorant of the gravity of the situation that we’re in, that a man accused of 91 felonies is running to run the country that he tried to overthrow when he ran it before, so that he can outrun prison.
This could be Trump’s moment of truth. No explosions on Truth Social yet, I am dutifully monitoring. Nothing to see over there than putdowns of Chris Christie and Ron DeSantis. They’re the least of your problems, Donald. But then again, probably none of your aides want to tell you about what Jack Smith is doing because they don’t want to be splattered with ketchup. Again.
No reason to leap-frog directly to the s.c.? Actually there is no reason not to do so. Plenty of reason to do so-keeping our country out of the hands of someone who stated he will be a dictator (i.e. actually SAVING our nation) is QUITE imperative. How big of a moron do you have to be to argue against a definitive decision in this matter…I suppose it helps to be a con ‘pube.
Jack Smith must figure he’s got the legal equivalent of a Royal Flush, or at least a Straight Flush. Or at worst Four Of A Kind. For you non-poker types, A “Royal” Flush is a straight flush (five cards of the same suit in sequential order) with an Ace being the high card in the sequence. (This assumes a 52 card deck – no jokers/wild cards.) Given the odds that’s serious confidence a person can have placing a bet that they will win the hand.
Sure, Smith has at least one (Thomas) “Joker” on SCOTUS and probably two because Alito would join Thomas in that category. However, even a 7-2 ruling or even a 6-3 (if the two Joker’s can wrangle themselves up another one) ruling in Smith’s favor would present a credible enough ruling to carry weight with the general public. Including non-MAGA Republicans. I know just enough law to know this is way above my level of Constitutional Law knowledge. So from where I sit it comes down to two possibilities. Either Smith knows he’ll lose and wants to tank/short-circuit his cases against Trump and get back to however a normal life he can have after this (not to mention save a lot of staff time and money) or he is dead certain he’s not only got Trump cold on the criminal facts and law, but on Constitutional grounds as well.
I’m betting the latter. That Smith is REALLY sure he’s got Trump by the balls and has decided to squeeze. HARD. A favorable ruling from SCOTUS might also have an added benefit beyond DC. A certain low-rent federal judge in her tiny little courthouse (with one courtroom) down in FL might have an “Oh shit” moment if SCOTUS tells Trump he’s S.O.L. You can bet every judge on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals (the one that’s already slapped Cannon down twice) will pay attention. And, if/when Smith appeals one of Cannon’s questionable rulings to them legally knock her in the head with a baseball bat. Maybe even take steps to remove her from the case.
Now THAT would be a real nightmare for Trump. A DC trial and conviction by late April/early May followed by a FL trial and conviction during the summer before the GOP convention starts. If GOPers are freaking out it means they realize, or at least believe Jack Smith is playing a sure win hand by going straight to SCOTUS.
Smith continues his three games of three-dimensional chess, (and winning), while Trump and his lawyers continue learning the rules of tic-tac-toe and the loose Cannon thinks she’s playing checkers.