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The justices in a brief order told Special Counsel Jack Smith to
file a response to Trump's request by next Tuesday at 4 p.m.
(2100 GMT). Smith could file his response sooner. He previously
asked the justices to resolve Trump's immunity claim before a
lower appeals court had weighed in - a request they denied.
Trump's lawyers on Monday asked the justices to temporarily
block a decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejecting his claim
of presidential immunity from prosecution, pending his bid for
the full slate of D.C. Circuit judges to reconsider the case,
and, if necessary, a Supreme Court appeal.
The requests risk further delaying Trump's criminal trial on
four criminal counts. A March 4 trial date in federal court in
Washington was postponed, with no new date yet set. Trump has
pleaded not guilty and has sought to portray the case as
politically motivated.
Trump is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination to
challenge Democratic President Joe Biden, who defeated him in
2020, in the Nov. 5 U.S. election. Slowing the case could be to
Trump's benefit.
In their filing to the Supreme Court, Trump's lawyers said a
months-long criminal trial of Trump during "at the height of
election season will radically disrupt" his ability to campaign
against Biden. They painted a dark picture of what they said
would befall future presidents if Trump's prosecution is
permitted to move forward, warning of partisan prosecutions,
extortion, blackmail and more.
(Reporting by Andrew Chung in Naples, Florida; Editing by Will
Dunham)
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