Special counsel urges US Supreme Court to reject Trump immunity bid
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[April 09, 2024]
By John Kruzel
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The special counsel pursuing federal criminal
charges against Donald Trump for his efforts to overturn his 2020
election loss filed a U.S. Supreme Court brief on Monday urging the
justices to reject the former president's bid for immunity from
prosecution on the principle that "no person is above the law."
The case is due to be argued before the justices on April 25. Trump has
appealed a lower court's rejection of his request to be shielded from
the criminal case brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith because he was
serving as president when he took the actions at the center of the case.
In his last filing before the arguments, Smith told the justices that
Trump's actions that led to the charges, if he is convicted, would
represent "an unprecedented assault on the structure of our government."
"The effective functioning of the presidency does not require that a
former president be immune from accountability for these alleged
violations of federal criminal law," Smith wrote. "To the contrary, a
bedrock principle of our constitutional order is that no person is above
the law including the president."
Trump, the first former president to be criminally prosecuted, is the
Republican candidate challenging Democratic President Joe Biden in the
Nov. 5 U.S. election. Biden defeated Trump in 2020. Trump has pleaded
not guilty in this case and the three other criminal cases he faces,
seeking to paint them as politically motivated.
He has argued that a former president has "absolute immunity from
criminal prosecution for his official acts," and warned that without
such immunity, "the threat of future prosecution and imprisonment would
become a political cudgel to influence the most sensitive and
controversial presidential decisions."
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Apr/09/images/ads/current/applegate_sda_SFARM_2024.png)
In August 2023, Smith brought four federal criminal counts against Trump
in the election subversion case, including conspiring to defraud the
United States, obstructing the congressional certification of Biden's
electoral victory and conspiring to do so, and conspiring against right
of Americans to vote.
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![](../images/040924PIX/news_j24.jpg)
Former U.S. President Donald Trump and Special Counsel Jack Smith
are seen in a combination of file photos in Washington, U.S., in
2023. REUTERS/Tasos Katopodis, Kevin Wurm/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Apr/09/images/ads/current/longview_lda_SFARM_2024.png)
Smith's view was backed on Monday by a group of 19 retired four-star
U.S. military officers and other former high-ranking national
security officials including retired Army Generals Peter Chiarelli
and George Casey, former CIA Director Michael Hayden and former Navy
Secretary Ray Mabus. In a friend-of-court brief, they called Trump's
claim of presidential immunity "contrary to the foundational
principles of our democracy."
"Unless (Trump's) theory is rejected, we risk jeopardizing America's
standing as a guardian of democracy in the world and further feeding
the spread of authoritarianism, thereby threatening the national
security of the United States and democracies around the world," the
former officials told the justices.
The Supreme Court's decision to hear arguments on Trump's immunity
bid in late April postponed his trial, giving Trump a boost as he
tries to delay prosecutions while running to regain the presidency.
Trump last October sought to have the charges dismissed based on his
claim of immunity. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected that
claim in December. On appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit on Feb. 6 ruled 3-0 against Trump's
claim.
Trump and his allies made false claims that the 2020 election was
stolen and devised a plan to use false electors to thwart
congressional certification of Biden's victory. Trump also sought to
pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence not to allow certification
to go forward. Trump's supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan.
6, 2021, in a bid to prevent the certification.
(Reporting by John Kruzel; Editing by Will Dunham)
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