Just today, Friday, the United States Supreme Court turned down Special Counsel Jack Smith’s demand for the justices to fast-track court proceedings.
In a one-line, unsigned order, the SC justices issued: “The petition for writ of certiorari before judgment is denied.” There were no dissents in the decision.
The Supreme Court’s decision is a slap on Smith’s face and his team of prosecutors who are pressing on the courts to bypass court calendars and proceedings to pave the way for his plan to derail Trump’s campaign for 2024 elections.
Jack Smith had petitioned to move quickly and hold litigation on Trump’s Washington case and the second prosecution in Florida before the full-blown campaign begins. Meanwhile, Trump’s attorneys advised the court to avoid haste and consider hearing the case after the elections.
Before the SC decision, Trump’s legal team said: “In an omission that speaks volumes, the Special Counsel never explains why March 4, 2024, is supposedly the only ‘appropriate timetable’ for this historic prosecution.”
“Instead, he vaguely asserts that the ‘public interest’ favors resolution on a dramatically accelerated timetable, to ensure that President Trump may be brought to trial in the next few months,” Trump’s attorneys wrote.
“In doing so, he confuses the ‘public interest’ with the manifest partisan interest in ensuring that President Trump will be subjected to a months-long criminal trial at the height of a presidential campaign where he is the leading candidate and the only serious opponent of the current Administration.”
The decision of the high court gives way for the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to decide first if the former president is guilty of hindering the transfer of presidential power after the 2020 presidential election.
A three-judge panel on the appeals court is already considerably speeding up the proceedings on the issue, arguments are set to be heard on January 9. If the panel sides with Smith, the former president could appeal the decision or recommend the Supreme Court to review the ruling; and vice-versa.
However, even with the appeal’s court-adjusted timeline for reviewing the immunity case, the trial date can still be moved and may not be resolved before March.
Jack Smith’s election interference case is one of the Democrat’s “legal” attempts to block Trump, as he enters the 2024 presidential elections. Despite attacks, the GOP leader is currently leading against Joe Biden in polls and the Republican primary.
