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The Supreme Court's "silence" on Donald Trump's immunity case may benefit him as he campaigns to return to the White House, said Harvard law professor and legal analyst Laurence Tribe.
Trump has asked the Court to weigh in on his claim that presidential immunity should shield him from being tried in the Department of Justice (DOJ) case on his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results after he lost to President Joe Biden. His request to the Supreme Court comes after a federal appeals court's three-judge panel rejected his claims of immunity.
The DOJ probe focused on Trump's actions leading up to and during the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, when a group of his supporters violently protested the election, which Trump has claimed was stolen despite a lack of evidence. Special counsel Jack Smith's investigation also looked into alleged efforts to submit false slates of pro-Trump electors to the Electoral College. Indicted on four felony counts, Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges and maintains that he is innocent of any wrongdoing.
On Wednesday, Tribe told Newsweek that while the Supreme Court's silence does not indicate how it will rule on the case, it does offer Trump good news as he tries to delay his trial until after the presidential election.
"Zero chance that the Supreme Court will rule in Trump's favor on the merits of his immunity claim, but a substantial chance that it will go along with his attempt to drag this out long enough to escape trial until after this November's election," Tribe said.
In a post to X (formerly Twitter), Tribe wrote that the silence "tells us almost nothing" about the case.
However, he said each day the court does not rule on the immunity claim "increases the odds that the news isn't good for anyone who wants Trump's shocking conduct around the 2020 election to be adjudicated before the 2024 election."
Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign for comment via email.
Legal experts have suggested Trump may be trying to delay his federal criminal trials until after the 2024 election because if he wins he may have the authority to order prosecutors to drop the charges against him in the January 6 and classified documents cases.
The trial in the election interference case, which is being overseen by Judge Tanya Chutkan, was expected to begin March 4. But The Washington Post reported earlier this month that the trial date no longer appears in a public calendar at the federal court in Washington, D.C.
This has brought speculation that the trial has been delayed until the Supreme Court decides on Trump's immunity claim.
Smith, who has led the federal prosecutions of Trump, previously urged the Court to rule on the immunity claim, but the Court denied his request.
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About the writer
Andrew Stanton is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in Maine. His role is reporting on U.S. politics and social issues. ... Read more