The Supreme Court of the United States will weigh more than ever in the presidential election of November 2024. The nine judges agreed on Wednesday to examine an appeal against the use of a law invoked in the prosecutions against former President Donald Trump and hundreds of his supporters storming the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The case, which the high court will consider next year, could potentially delay the ex-president’s upcoming federal trial for alleged conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Donald Trump, in pole position for the Republican nomination for the November 2024 presidential election, must be tried in March, but his lawyers are seeking to delay the trial until after the election.
Decision by June
The law in question, on obstruction of an official proceeding, is invoked among the charges against the former president in the context of the proceedings stemming from the violent intrusion of hundreds of his supporters into the Capitol, who wanted prevent the certification of the results of the election won by Democrat Joe Biden.
Joseph Fischer, a former police officer, is among more than 300 people also charged with obstruction, a charge punishable by a maximum of 20 years in prison, and is seeking to have charges dropped on this charge. If he wins his case, it could have a snowball effect for everyone in his situation, including Donald Trump.
A federal judge appointed by Donald Trump agreed to drop the obstruction charges by ruling that the law had been misinterpreted, arguing that it could only serve as a basis for prosecution in the case of financial crimes. This decision was overturned by a federal appeals court.
The Supreme Court, of which six out of nine judges are conservatives, including three appointed by Donald Trump, must examine the appeal of the former police officer next year, with a ruling expected towards the end of its session in June, or four months before the presidential election on November 4 which will likely once again pit the real estate mogul and Joe Biden against each other.
“Absolute immunity”
At the same time, federal prosecutor Jack Smith, who is investigating the electoral interference case against Donald Trump, asked the Supreme Court on Monday to decide whether or not the former president benefited from criminal immunity in his former office.
Donald Trump’s defense maintains that he enjoys “absolute immunity” and cannot be prosecuted for his actions when he was in charge of the White House.
Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is to preside over the federal trial scheduled for March in Washington, rejected this request for immunity in early December, considering that no text protected a former president against criminal prosecution.
Donald Trump’s lawyers appealed this decision and the special prosecutor asked the high court to rule urgently on the subject in order to prevent the ex-president from derailing the schedule of his trial.
“Nothing could be more vital to our democracy than a president who abuses the electoral system to stay in power being held accountable for his criminal behavior,” said the special prosecutor.