On Friday, the high court denied Smith’s request for an expedited review. Consequently, the case will proceed through the customary proceedings in the appeals court and will likely ultimately reach the SCOTUS.
This outcome represents a triumph for Trump and a substantial setback for Smith, who is pressed for time to present Trump to a preponderantly Democratic jury prior to the election.
According to polling, a conviction could cost Trump millions of votes, and if he fails to appeal the conviction by November, there is a possibility that it will harm his campaign on Election Day. The timing of Smith’s prosecution has been characterized by Trump as “election interference,” an effort to manipulate the forthcoming presidential election.
The SCOTUS denied an immediate review of Trump’s presidential immunity claims less than two weeks after Smith initially requested that the justices ascertain expeditiously whether Trump could be legally prosecuted on the charges pertaining to January 6. Those charges allege that Trump allegedly attempted to tamper with the results of the 2020 presidential election.
“Despite having lost, the Defendant was determined to stay in power,” the indictment claims. “So for more than two months following Election Day on November 3, 2020, the Defendant spread lies that there had been outcome-determinative fraud in the election that he actually won. These claims were false, and the Defendant knew they were false.”
In that particular case, Trump was indicted on four counts. “One of obstruction and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; one of conspiracy to defraud the United States; one of conspiracy against rights; and one on obstruction and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding.”
Smith, attempting to stick to his ideal trial date of March 4, 2024, is requesting an expeditious review of the case out of concern that it may be postponed until 2025, following the presidential election.
“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 prosecutors implored.
However, Trump’s attorneys pushed back on Smith’s request:
Importance does not automatically necessitate speed. If anything, the opposite is usually true. Novel, complex, sensitive, and historic issues — such as the existence of presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts — call for more careful deliberation, not less.
They argued that SCOTUS adoption of the case is unnecessary “before the lower courts complete their review.”
Ryan DeLarme is an American journalist navigating a labyrinth of political corruption, overreaching corporate influence, a burgeoning censorship-industrial complex, compromised media, and the planned destruction of our constitutional republic. He writes for Badlands Media and is also a Host and Founder at Vigilant News. Additionally, his writing has been featured in American Thinker, the Post-Liberal, Winter Watch, Underground Newswire, and Stillness in the Storm. He’s also writes for alt-media streaming platforms Dauntless Dialogue and Rise.tv. Ryan enjoys gardening, kung fu, creative writing and fighting to SAVE AMERICA