US Supreme Court to hear Trump’s immunity claim in 2020 election case
Al Jazeera
Top court agrees to decide whether former President Donald Trump can be prosecuted on charges he interfered with the 2020 election.
The Supreme Court of the United States has agreed to hear former President Donald Trump’s claim of immunity from prosecution, further delaying his criminal trial on charges of conspiring to overturn his election loss in 2020.
The justices on Wednesday put on hold the criminal case being pursued by Special Counsel Jack Smith and will review a lower court’s rejection of Trump’s claim he cannot be prosecuted for actions aimed at reversing his loss because he was president at the time.
The court will hear arguments in late April, with a decision likely no later than the end of June.
That timetable is much faster than usual, but even if the justices deny Trump’s immunity bid, it is not clear whether a trial can be scheduled and concluded before this year’s presidential election.
Trump is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination to challenge Joe Biden, a Democrat, in the November 5 election.
