As we well know, Judge Florence Pan, during oral arguments, robustly challenged former President Donald Trump’s assertion of absolute immunity for official acts. This was illustrated by her hypothetically suggesting a scenario where a sitting president employs SEAL Team 6 to eliminate a political adversary. Trump’s recent petition for certiorari seems to question the accuracy of this premise.
The appeal against the DC Circuit’s rejection of his continuous presidential immunity shield landed at the Supreme Court’s steps recently. The arguments, previously dismissed by two separate courts, have been recycled in the petition while cautiously steering clear of the logical outcome of his claim as underscored by Judge Pan.
With the aid of a Yogi Berra quote, Trump’s legal team once again put forth that their client faces charges for official conduct. Contrary to their claim, the DC circuitmade note that Trump was indicted for obstructing an entirely separate branch of government, thus bringing into dispute the idea that he was executing official presidential tasks.
Trump’s lawyers have deftly skirted around the allegation that the former president pressed Vice President Mike Pence to reject electoral votes presenting the preferences of approximately 20 million American voters. They did so by stating that he was “communicating” and “urging” official duties in line with suspicion surrounding supposed election fraud. However, the vague representation scarcely conveys the gravity of Trump’s seeming attempt to coerce the Georgia Secretary of State into locating an additional 11,780 votes.
An unusual assertion in the appeal was that prosecuting him during the election season not only infringes on his First Amendment rights but also those of “tens of millions of American voters”. Trump’s continuous effusion of commentary during his court case, however, contradicts this claim.
An ulterior objective hinted at by the frailty of these arguments seems to be to stretch out the process long enough to postpone the trial until the elections.
While Trump’s lawyers wish for his case to be stayed by the Court, they want to take more time with an en banc review at the DC Circuit prior to considering his petition for cert. It’s noteworthy that the Special Counsel has previously made the argument that settling Trump’s claims of immunity falls within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court alone. This might present a challenge to recant in light of Chief Justice Roberts requesting a response from the Special Counsel by the following week.
For further details, please refer to the SCOTUS Docket: Trump v. US and the District Docket via Court Listener: US v. Trump.