Donald Trump Crimes: Special Counsel Jack Smith Goes Directly to Supreme Court To Question Ex-POTUS's Immunity

To halt Donald Trump's usual "Delay-Delay-Delay" tactics, Special Counsel Jack Smith has asked the Supreme Court to step in on the ex-POTUS's immunity situation so that the election subversion trial scheduled for March will still be on track.

CNN noted that this was a rare step for the special counsel to skip a federal appeals court and go directly to the Supreme Court, as the issue of Trump's presidential immunity was fundamental to the case.

In this specific case, Smith's team asked the Supreme Court to review District Judge Tanya Chutkan's ruling that Trump is not immune from the federal election subversion prosecution case brought in Washington, DC, because Trump was acting in his capacity as a candidate for president and not in his duties as president.

Trump's attorneys, however, argued that their client's alleged actions over the 2020 election results were part of his official duties as president at that time. They plan to delay the case by bogging down the immunity issue with appeals, and with Smith going directly to the highest court in the land, he has thrown a wrench into their plans.

Smith's team also asked the Supreme Court whether Trump is protected by double jeopardy after the former president's attorneys asserted that because Trump was acquitted by the Senate during his impeachment trial, he cannot be criminally tried for the same alleged actions.

Supreme Court Agrees To Speed Up Consideration of Jack Smith's Request on Donald Trump's Immunity

"It is of imperative public importance that respondent's claims of immunity be resolved by this Court and that respondent's trial proceed as promptly as possible if his claim of immunity is rejected," Smith wrote in his request for the Supreme Court. "Respondent's claims are profoundly mistaken, as the district court held. But only this Court can definitively resolve them."

The special counsel, who prosecuted war criminals at The Hague, asked for urgency. The Supreme Court agreed later Monday to speed up consideration of his request, according to CBS News. Because of this, the former president's legal team must now submit a response to the petition by 4 PM on December 20.

"A cornerstone of our constitutional order is that no person is above the law. The force of that principle is at its zenith where, as here, a grand jury has accused a former president of committing federal crimes to subvert the peaceful transfer of power to his lawfully elected successor," the special counsel wrote in his request. "Nothing could be more vital to our democracy than that a president who abuses the electoral system to remain in office is held accountable for criminal conduct."

Jack Smith Going Directly To Supreme Court Shows Urgency Is Needed in Immunity Case

The Trump campaign accused Jack Smith of trying "a Hail Mary by racing to the Supreme Court and attempting to bypass the appellate process" for the case, with a spokesperson adding, "There is absolutely no reason to rush this sham to trial except to injure President Trump and tens of millions of his supporters."

However, the BBC noted that because prosecutors rarely seek the top court's intervention before a lower appeals court rules on a matter, it just shows how urgent the situation is. Should Trump's usual "Delay Delay Delay" tactics work and the trial beyond the November 2024 election, it might mean that should Trump win the presidency again in 2024, he could pardon himself from all his crimes.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Supreme Court opts to expedite its consideration of special counsel's question about Trump case - CNN