By John Kruzel and Andrew Chung
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court faces a major test of the presidency’s power on Thursday in debates over Donald TrumpThe request for immunity from prosecution for his efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
The justices will hear Trump’s appeal at 10 a.m. EDT (2 p.m. GMT) after lower courts rejected his request to be shielded from four election-related criminal charges on the grounds that he was president when he took the actions that led to the indictment obtained. by the special advisor Jack Smith.
Trump, the Republican candidate challenging the Democrats President Joe Biden during the November 5 elections, he is the first former American president to be criminally prosecuted.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in that case and three other criminal cases he faces, including an ongoing trial in New York state on charges related to money paid to a porn star shortly before the US election of 2016 which placed him in the White House. Trump will not attend the Supreme Court proceedings because he will be in a Manhattan courtroom in the case.
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority (6 votes to 3) includes three justices appointed by Trump: Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch.
Already this year, the court has handed Trump a major victory as he races to win back the presidency. On March 4, he overturned a court ruling that had barred him from the Colorado ballot under a constitutional provision involving insurrection for inciting and supporting the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.
Not since its landmark Bush v. Gore decision, which handed the controversial 2000 U.S. election to Republican George W. Bush rather than Democrat Al Gore, has the court played such an important role in a presidential race.
Trump has taken numerous steps to try to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden. His false claims of widespread voter fraud helped inspire the attack on the Capitol on the day Congress met to certify Biden’s victory. Trump and his allies also hatched a plan to use fake electors from key states to thwart certification.
The August 2023 indictment described Trump as “determined to remain in power” despite his election defeat. Trump has been charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, corruptly obstructing and conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiring against Americans’ right to vote.
“ABSOLUTE IMMUNITY”
Trump’s lawyers told judges in a filing that a former president has “absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for his official actions.” Without such immunity, they said, “the threat of future prosecution and imprisonment would become a political cudgel to influence the most sensitive and controversial presidential decisions.”
Smith, in a filing, urged the justices to reject Trump’s request for immunity from prosecution, based on the principle that “no one is above the law.”
In October 2023, Trump sought to have the charges dismissed based on his claim of immunity. U.S. District Judge Tanya…
