Dec. 30 (UPI) — Special counsel Jack Smith on Saturday asked an appeals court to reject former President Donald Trump‘s claim of immunity in his federal election interference case.
Smith filed an 80-page motion with the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington more than a week after the Supreme Court turned down his request to issue an expedited ruling in the case, in which Trump is charged with attempting to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
In the motion, he argued against Trump’s claims of absolute presidential immunity against the four federal criminal charges currently facing him.
“Separation-of-powers principles, constitutional text, history, and precedent all make clear that a former President may be prosecuted for criminal acts he committed while in office — including, most critically here, illegal acts to remain in power despite losing an election,” Smith wrote.
The three-judge panel — including one Republican and two Democratic appointees — is scheduled to begin hearing oral arguments on Jan. 9, which could delay the trial’s start date, currently scheduled for March 4.
Previously, Smith ask the nation’s high court for expediting a ruling on the immunity claim due to concerns that Trump would try to delay the trial through the appeal.
Initially, the Supreme Court agreed to consider the extraordinary petition from Smith to bypass the typical appellate review process, but later rejected Smith’s plea after Trump’s lawyers urged the court to take a “cautious and deliberative” approach given the historic nature of the moment, with Trump being the first president to ever face criminal charges.
Smith made the filing in response to a brief from Trump’s legal team on Dec. 23, which urged the appeals court to throw out indictment, claiming the Constitution and other U.S. codes protected Trump from criminal prosecution for official acts he made as president “unless he is first impeached and convicted by the Senate.”
Previously, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan — who is overseeing Trump’s prosecution — ruled that presidential immunity does not shield Trump from the federal criminal charges, prompting the former president’s appeal and later Smith’s urgent plea to the Supreme Court.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to four charges of orchestrating an alleged “criminal scheme” to overturn the 2020 election results, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government.
He continues to deny he did anything wrong, claiming immunity for his words and actions while the incumbent.
The charges stem from a congressional investigation into the deadly Jan. 6 attack on Capitol, which found evidence of a wider conspiracy involving Republican aides and allies across the nation, including campaign officials in swing states, who allegedly served as phantom electors in a scheme to throw the election for Trump.
As a result of the probe, Smith was appointed in November 2022 to oversee the Justice Department investigation into the matter, resulting in four criminal charges against Trump.
Separately, Trump was indicted this past summer by the same special counsel on 37 counts for his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving office.
