George Conway Pours Cold Water on Donald Trump's Supreme Court Win

George Conway, a conservative lawyer and vocal critic of Donald Trump, said on Friday that the former president's Supreme Court win is not "a big deal."

On Friday, the Supreme Court rejected Department of Justice (DOJ)'s Special Counsel Jack Smith's request to speed up Trump's appeal process in the federal election subversion case filed against him.

The DOJ indicted Trump in August on four federal felony counts, including obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, all stemming from his activities surrounding the riot at the U.S. Capitol. On January 6, 2021, a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., while Congress was attempting to certify Joe Biden's 2020 win. The riot erupted after Trump made unsubstantiated claims that the election was stolen via widespread voter fraud.

Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over the federal election subversion case, ruled against Trump's claim of presidential immunity this month. Trump's lawyers subsequently appealed Chutkan's ruling and then, Smith asked the Supreme Court to hear the case instead of it going to a federal appellate court.

Smith was hoping to expedite the appeal process, so that the trial would not be delayed past its March 4 start date. Meanwhile, Trump's lawyers argued that Smith's motivates for speeding up the process were "partisan" in nature since the trial start date falls right at the peak of campaign season for their client, who is currently the GOP frontrunner in the 2024 presidential race.

CNN's chief Washington correspondent, Jake Tapper, said on his show The Lead with Jake Tapper on Friday that the Supreme Court handed Trump "something of a win" when it rejected Smith's request to expedite the former president's appeal.

Tapper then introduced Conway who immediately poured cold water on Trump's supposed win.

"I want to issue a correction from your opening and from something you said at the end of the last segment, that this is a 'big win' for Donald Trump," Conway told Tapper. "I don't think this is a big win. I don't think it's a big deal at all."

Conway explained, "I think it's not a big deal because I don't think it's going to affect the schedule that much, and I think it likely shows the weakness of Donald Trump's immunity claim."

Conway laid out a possible timeline for the appeal process.

"I just don't think there's anything there to the claims that Trump has been making," he said. "I think this case will be disposed of by the intermediate appellate court by the middle of January, by the third week in January at the latest. And I think at that point...the stay will lift and they can immediately start proceeding toward trial in the district court."

Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign via email for comment.

Posting to Truth Social on Saturday, Trump cheered the Supreme Court decision. "The Supreme Court has unanimously rejected Deranged Jack Smith's 'SUPER SPEEDY' lawsuit against me," he wrote.

"If I were polling poorly, like everyone else against me is (including Crooked Joe Biden!), or, for some reason, I decided not to run, they never would have even brought this ridiculous and disgraceful lawsuit. It is Election Interference like never before seen in our Country," Trump added.

Trump lawyer's have said that since Trump was still in office when he carried out his actions leading up to the January 6 riot, he should be immune from prosecution. However, Chutkan wrote in her opinion, "Whatever immunities a sitting president may enjoy, the United States has only one chief executive at a time, and that position does not confer a lifelong 'get-out-of-jail-free' pass."

Conway has been a vocal critic of Trump since 2018, while his then wife, Kellyanne Conway, was serving as a senior counselor in the Trump administration. The couple announced their divorce in March 2023.