A crash course on Donald Trump's January 9th hearing

A federal court will hear oral arguments on whether Trump is entitled to dismissal of Jack Smith's 2020 election case against him due to presidential immunity.

Here’s what you need to know:The Case: No. 23-3228, United States of America v. Donald J. TrumpSpecial Counsel Jack Smith has brought the following criminal charges against Mr. Trump: Conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct and obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy against the right to vote and to have one’s vote counted. The charges stem from what happened in the weeks that followed the 2020 election through January 6th, 2021, behavior that Smith characterized as discounting legitimate votes and subverting the election results. Notably, Smith did not bring a charge of insurrection against Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump’s defense team moved to have the case dismissed claiming presidential immunity. In December, the DC federal district court judge overseeing the trial denied the dismissal request. Today’s hearing is an appeal of that decision. Former President Donald Trump and Special Counsel Jack Smith (Getty Images) Fox News Channel will host a live town hall with former President Trump from Des Moines, Iowa on January 10 at 9 p.m. ET. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images) Kerri Kupec Urbahn is Legal Editor for Fox News. Prior to her work in media, Kerri served as the Director of Public Affairs for the Department of Justice under Attorney General William P. Barr. She also served as Communications Director for Alliance Defending Freedom, and clerked for Court of Appeals of Virginia Judge William G. Petty.

The issue: Whether a former president is immune from federal prosecution after leaving office for acts committed while in office. Immunity from civil suits for decisions while serving in an official capacity as President of the United States has long been recognized in American jurisprudence; additionally, it has been the practice of the Department of Justice that a sitting president cannot be criminally charged. Mr. Trump has consistently argued that all of his actions through his last day in office were official acts; Smith has asserted that in the weeks after the election and through January 6th, Mr. Trump was acting as an office "seeker" and not an "office" holder and thus is not afforded the usual protection. Some constitutional scholars have also raised First Amendment alarm bells on the dangers of what they believe appears to be the government attempting to criminalize the speech of the former president. 

What’s at stake: Whether Jack Smith’s election case gets thrown out against Trump because of presidential immunity. We are still in the pre-trial motions stage of this case, meaning the hearing is not on the actual substance of the case – the charges themselves – but whether the case should be heard at all.