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U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts may be instrumental in stopping Donald Trump's election interference trial, a top law professor said. Trump is likely to apply this week for a stay in the trial.
On February 6, a D.C. appeals court rejected Trump's claim of presidential immunity, leaving it up to the Supreme Court to decide whether Trump's trial can proceed before Judge Tanya Chutkan.
"Roberts has been a strong defender of presidential power," New York University legal professor Stephen Gillers told Newsweek. "He may see the circuit opinion as a threat to that power unless [it is] limited.
"If Roberts supports a stay, there will likely be the five votes needed to put the case on ice. But if Roberts opposes a stay, others may go along and give Chutkan a green light. So it may all depend on Roberts."
Tuesday's unanimous opinion from a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the former president can face trial on charges that he plotted to overturn the results of the 2020 election, one of four prosecutions he is fighting as he seeks to reclaim the White House in 2024.
The judges rejected the argument that a president has "unbounded authority to commit crimes" that would prevent the recognition of election results or violate the rights of citizens to vote and have their votes count.
"We cannot accept that the office of the presidency places its former occupants above the law for all time thereafter," the judges wrote.
Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, plans to appeal the decision. He blasted it as a "nation-destroying ruling" that "cannot be allowed to stand."
He could ask the full D.C. Circuit Court to reconsider the panel's ruling or go directly to the Supreme Court. The former would mean the case moves forward, but if the Supreme Court agrees to take up the issue, the case is likely to remain on hold for weeks or even months while the justices consider the appeal.
The appeals panel has given Trump until February 12 to ask the Supreme Court to get involved.
Newsweek emailed Trump's attorney on Thursday seeking comment.
Chutkan, who is overseeing the election interference trial in Washington, D.C., also rejected the immunity argument, ruling in December that the office of the presidency "does not confer a 'get-out-of-jail-free' pass." She put the case on hold while Trump pursued his immunity claims, and last week she postponed the scheduled March 4 trial date. Trump is accused of illegally interfering in the 2020 presidential election, including encouraging the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Gillers told Newsweek on Wednesday that Trump's real agenda is to delay the trial until after the election.
"This was never about whether he would eventually win in court but whether he could keep the case open on appeal until it was too late in the election season to try it," Gillers said.
He said Trump's defeat in the appeals court has not completely ended his chances in the immunity case.
"His chances of achieving that goal are worse today, but they are by no means eliminated," he said. "The bottom line is that the decision whether Trump goes to trial on the Jan. 6 case before Election Day is now in the lap of the justices."
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About the writer
Sean O'Driscoll is a Newsweek Senior Crime and Courts Reporter based in Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. law. ... Read more