Trump Makes Stunning New Legal Move - Jack Smith Blindsided
Former President Donald Trump’s attorneys have filed a motion to pause his classified documents prosecution following the Supreme Court's ruling granting him immunity from certain criminal charges related to official acts.
On Friday, the attorneys requested U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to set a schedule for arguing the impact of the Supreme Court decision, according to Bloomberg. The proposed schedule would set these arguments for September and pause most of the case until the judge rules on immunity and the constitutional challenge to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s appointment.
“Resolution of these threshold questions is necessary to minimize the adverse consequences to the institution of the Presidency arising from this unconstitutional investigation and prosecution,” the attorneys stated.
This request for a delay is the latest fallout from the Supreme Court’s immunity decision.
CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams discussed on “CNN This Morning” with host Kasie Hunt that some of the evidence in the trial, including testimony from former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks, might now be questioned.
“Let’s talk about what the Supreme Court decided,” Williams explained. “What they said was that evidence of official acts cannot even be used to help support prosecuting someone for unofficial acts of the presidency. For example, in Trump’s New York trial, which involves personal conduct like private behavior, cooking the books of his corporation, etc., the prosecution relied on testimony from Hope Hicks, a former White House aide, and other evidence tied to his time in the White House. Now, Trump’s team can plausibly claim some of these were official acts that can’t even be used as evidence.”
Hicks testified about the Trump campaign’s reaction to the 2016 “Access Hollywood” tape involving Trump and host Billy Bush. On May 30, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
“It’s no surprise, we talked about it on air yesterday, that Trump’s team would move to upend the New York case,” Williams noted. “While calling a new trial is unlikely, they can raise the issue on appeal, which will affect some aspects of the New York trial.”
President Joe Biden criticized the Supreme Court’s immunity decision.
“This nation was founded on the principle that there are no kings in America,” he said. “Each of us is equal before the law. No one is above the law – not even the president of the United States. But today’s Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity changes that. For all practical purposes, today’s decision almost certainly means that there are virtually no limits on what a president can do.”
“This decision continues the court’s attack on a wide range of long-established legal principles in our nation, from gutting voting rights and civil rights to taking away a woman’s right to choose, and now undermining the rule of law in this nation,” he added.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that a former president has absolute immunity for actions within his core constitutional powers.
The ruling means Trump cannot be prosecuted for actions taken as president if they were part of his official duties. However, he can still be prosecuted for actions outside his official responsibilities. Lower courts must carefully determine whether each action was official or not.