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Donald Trump's legal team has lashed out at Special Counsel Jack Smith's request to the Supreme Court not to delay the former president's federal election obstruction trial further by taking up an immunity appeal.
In their final brief before the nation's highest court considers whether the case should be thrown out because Trump is immune from criminal prosecution, the former president's lawyers suggested that Smith only wants to "influence" the result of the 2024 election by ensuring the trial takes place before November 5.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to four charges as part of Smith's investigation into his alleged criminal attempts to overturn the 2020 Election results. Proceedings are currently on hold as Trump's legal team ask the Supreme Court to rule on whether he can cite absolute immunity to dismiss the case, as the allegations relate to Trump's time as president.
Trump, the expected 2024 Republican presidential nominee, has frequently faced accusations that he is taking every step possible to try and delay the start of the federal election trial until after November in the hopes that if he wins the race, he could then demand the Department of Justice drops the federal case once he enters office.
"As before, there is no mystery about the Special Counsel's motivation. Commentators across the political spectrum point to the obvious—the Special Counsel seeks to bring President Trump to trial and to secure a conviction before the November election in which President Trump is the leading candidate against President Biden," Trump's lawyers wrote.
On Wednesday, Smith urged the Supreme Court to allow a previous ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that rejected Trump's claims of absolute immunity to remain as the country has a "compelling interest" to see the former president brought to trial quickly.
The original start date of March 4 for the trial to begin has already been scrapped because of the appeal process, with proceedings potentially getting pushed back by months if the Supreme Court decides to rule on the immunity argument.
Smith has already attempted to bypass the usual routine by asking the Supreme Court to immediately decide on the immunity argument in order to avoid the lengthy appeal process potentially delaying the start of proceedings.
SCOTUS rejected Smith's request in December 2023 and said the immunity decision should go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit first.
In their latest brief, Trump's legal team accused Smith of getting into "logical knots" as he now "begs this Court not to decide issues that, two months ago, he begged the Court" to decide.
"Like his December petition, the Special Counsel's latest filing raises a compelling inference of a political motive—the motivation to influence the 2024 Presidential election by bringing the leading Republican candidate to trial before November 5, 2024," Trump's lawyers said.
Smith's office has been contacted for comment via email.
Trump has frequently accused all four criminal investigations into him of being politically motivated "witch hunts" aimed at stopping him winning the 2024 election.
A recent Reuters/Ipsos survey found that 55 percent of U.S. adults would not vote for Trump if he is a convicted felon by the time of November's election, including more than half (51 percent) of Republican voters.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, and Florida ... Read more