🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
Donald Trump has lashed out at special counsel Jack Smith after he bypassed the usual channels and directly asked the Supreme Court to rule on whether the former president can cite immunity in the 2020 election case.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump accused Smith of "election interference" after the special counsel went straight to the country's highest court, leapfrogging the federal appeals court, to decide if the former president can claim he is absolutely immune from federal prosecution over alleged criminal attempts to overturn the last election results as his actions took place while in office.
"So Deranged Jack Smith, the Biden appointed 'nut job' prosecutor with a big record of loses because he goes too far, wants to RUSH, RUSH, RUSH to the Supreme Court on the important matter of Presidential Immunity, something which is so basic to America that it should be automatic," Trump wrote on Wednesday.
In his court flings, Smith said it is of "imperative public importance" that SCOTUS rules on the immunity defense promptly, as the federal trial is set to begin in March 2024. The timing of the federal election trial, where Trump has pleaded not guilty to four charges, is also crucial for the former president.
Experts have said Trump is hoping to delay the start of the proceedings until after the 2024 election at least. If the trial starts in March as scheduled and he is found guilty, voters could take to the polls in the 2024 election knowing Trump is a convicted criminal.
Trump has denied all wrongdoing in the federal case, and has long accused all criminal investigations into him as being politically motivated "witch hunts" that aim to prevent him from winning the next election.
"[Smith] doesn't want to go to our Highest Court with a loss, or negative opinion, but what he does want to do is INTERFERE WITH THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2024, hoping to damage Biden's POLITICAL OPPONENT. In other words he want to CHEAT, because if they really wanted SPEED, they would have brought this ridiculous lawsuit 3 years ago, and it would be long ago over," added the former president in his post.
"But no, they Waited, and Waited, and Waited, and brought it right in the middle of my Presidential Campaign—THE DEFINITION OF ELECTION INTERFERENCE!!!"
Smith's office has been contacted for comment via email.
Federal prosecutors have argued that the actions detailed in the indictment do not fall under the scope of a president's duties in office.
No former president has been prosecuted before. Trump's legal team has used this lack of historical precedent to try to get the indictment tossed out. The Supreme Court has ruled that presidents are generally immune from civil liability but has yet to decide whether that immunity extends to criminal prosecution.
The Supreme Court agreed to take the case on Monday and told Trump's legal team to file their responses by December 20.
In separate filings to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit urging it —unsuccessfully—to rule against Smith's request for an expedited appeal, Trump's lawyers likened the special counsel to the Grinch for ruining Christmas plans with his proposed schedule as it would make former president's opening brief due the day after Christmas.
In the filings, Trump's lawyers said this would require "attorneys and support staff to work round-the-clock through the holidays, inevitably disrupting family and travel plans.
"It is as if the Special Counsel 'growled, with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming, 'I must find some way to keep Christmas from coming...But how?'" the filings add while quoting Dr. Seuss' classic children's book How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
In response, Smith's office said Trump's team got their dates wrong, and their filing would be due December 23, not December 26.
"In any event, the public's need for a speedy resolution of these important legal issues take precedence over personal scheduling issues," prosecutors wrote.
The appeals court granted Smith's request in a Wednesday ruling, and ordered Trump's team to file their brief in the case by December 23.
fairness meter
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