Jack Smith's Supreme Court Bid May Help Donald Trump Prove His Point

Special Counsel Jack Smith's rare petition to the Supreme Court could backfire and help former President Donald Trump prove his point about the Department of Justice, political strategists told Newsweek.

Smith asked the high court to take up Trump's immunity claim in a Monday petition, and the justices almost immediately granted the request for expedited consideration on what federal prosecutors described as being "a fundamental question at the heart of our democracy: whether a former President is absolutely immune from federal prosecution for crimes committed while in office."

But the DOJ's request hinges on Trump's status not only as a former president but as the 2024 Republican frontrunner. In other words, the Supreme Court would have been unlikely to take up the matter if it was not Trump at the center of the case. That fact, however, underscores the point that Trump has tried to repeatedly make since the various federal investigations and subsequent indictments into him began.

"The filing reinforces the image among a significant portion of the Republican electorate that two systems of justice exist—one for Donald Trump and one for everyone else," GOP strategist Matt Klink told Newsweek.

Even though the majority of Americans approved of the DOJ's August decision to indict Trump for his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, 46 percent of Republicans said that the former president did "nothing wrong" when it comes to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, an AP/Norc poll shows. The survey also found that only 16 percent of Republicans approved of the indictment compared to 85 percent of Democrats and 47 percent of independents.

Trump and other Republicans have portrayed the DOJ under the Biden administration as being politically motivated and have accused the agency of weaponizing the government against the president's conservative rivals. Trump has blasted the DOJ for charging him in both the election inference case and the case related to his mishandling of classified documents, while House Republicans launched the Weaponization of the Federal Government Committee earlier this year.

Klink said because of the crucial role Trump plays as the defendant, Smith's request "continues the narrative of a highly politicized attorney general's office, one where its top leadership is soft on Democrats politicians and is 'in the tank' to help a weak Joe Biden get re-elected."

Even though the petition adds fuel to the already historic trial of a former president, Klink noted that Smith has little choice but to ask for the Supreme Court to step in. If not, the case could continue to be delayed, missing its scheduled March 4 trial date and potentially being pushed to after the 2024 election altogether.

"Smith needs to push the Supreme Court to expedite if he has any hope of keeping his ambitious trial schedule," he said. "It's Smith's hope to keep Donald Trump's litigation front and center and, at all costs, to get a legal decision against the president before the November 2024 election."

Political consultant Jay Towsend told Newsweek that because of the high stakes that both sides face, both Trump and the DOJ no longer care about whether the public perceives their actions as being fair. They're too focused on winning the federal election interference case.

"The battle between Trump and various prosecutors is now a life and death struggle for both," Townsend said. "For Trump, the mission is to avoid conviction, and the only way to do that is by delaying any and all court proceedings until 2025."

He continued, "For the prosecutors, it is a risk that a man they regard a crook may again become the most powerful figure on the globe. None will want to go to their grave blamed for letting him off the hook."