In a case unprecedented in the history of the United States, lawyers representing former President Donald Trump will try Thursday to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court that their client is immune from criminal prosecution for acts he allegedly engaged in while serving in the nation’s highest office.
The federal case has extraordinarily high stakes.
Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election. He is pressing his immunity claim on charges that as president, he criminally conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to President Joe Biden.
That case is currently on hold pending a high court decision on Trump’s immunity claim.
A rapid decision might allow that trial to take place before the November election, while a delay could prevent it from taking place at all. If Trump wins in November and resolution of the case is still pending when he takes office in January, it’s possible he could direct the Justice Department to drop the charges.
The case before the Supreme Court arises from charges filed last year by special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by the Department of Justice.
One part of Smith’s mandate was to conduct an independent probe into the former president’s actions between the November 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol, in which Trump supporters attempted to disrupt the official certification of Biden’s election victory.
