WASHINGTON, United States: The US Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled against Donald Trump’s claim that he enjoys immunity from criminal prosecution as a former president, as the 2024 White House nominee faces dozens of state and federal charges. I agreed to try this case.
The court has scheduled a hearing in the high-profile case for the week of April 22, and said Trump’s trial on charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election will be postponed for now.
President Trump was scheduled to be tried on March 4 for election meddling, but the case was put on hold after his claims of presidential immunity reached an impasse in court.
The Supreme Court said it would answer the question “whether, and if so, to what extent, a former president enjoys presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for acts allegedly committed while in office.”
The case is the most significant election law case to go to court since 2000, when a recount in Florida that gave Republican George W. Bush a narrow lead over Democrat Al Gore was halted.
A three-judge panel of the appeals court ruled earlier this month that Trump, 77, is not immune from prosecution as a former president.
In a unanimous opinion, the justices said Trump’s claim of immunity from criminal liability for his actions while in the White House “is not supported by record, history, or the text or structure of the Constitution.”
The ruling was a major legal setback for Trump, a front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and the first former president to face criminal charges.
The appeals court suspended the immunity decision to give President Trump a chance to appeal to the Supreme Court.
The former president’s lawyers have repeatedly asked that the trial be postponed until after the November election, when all federal cases against Trump would be dismissed if he were to win the White House again.
