{"id":26767,"date":"2023-12-12T07:05:15","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T12:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=26767"},"modified":"2023-12-12T07:05:15","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T12:05:15","slug":"us-supreme-court-asked-to-decide-if-trump-can-be-prosecuted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2023\/12\/12\/us-supreme-court-asked-to-decide-if-trump-can-be-prosecuted\/","title":{"rendered":"US Supreme Court asked to decide if Trump can be prosecuted"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The US Supreme Court has been asked to decide whether Donald Trump can be prosecuted for crimes he allegedly committed while he was president.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Jack Smith, the special counsel overseeing two criminal investigations into Mr Trump, asked the court on Monday for a quick ruling on whether he is immune from federal prosecution.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The top court later agreed to consider his request.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It asked Mr Trump’s legal team to file a response by 20 December.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The justices, however, gave no indication of how or when they would ultimately rule.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr Trump, 77, is scheduled to stand trial in March on federal charges relating to an alleged plot to overturn the 2020 election results.<\/p>\n

But his lawyers have repeatedly argued that former presidents cannot face criminal charges for conduct related to their official responsibilities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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That argument, however,\u00a0was rejected by a lower court judge earlier this month<\/a>\u00a0who ruled the case could go ahead as planned. Mr Trump then said he would appeal that decision.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr Smith’s rare direct request to America’s highest court on Monday was an attempt to leapfrog the lower courts altogether and avoid any delays to the scheduled 4 March trial date.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr Smith wrote: “This case presents a fundamental question at the heart of our democracy: whether a former president is absolutely immune from federal prosecution for crimes committed while in office or is constitutionally protected from federal prosecution.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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He added that Mr Trump’s claims of presidential immunity are “profoundly mistaken” and “only this court can definitively resolve them”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Trump campaign earlier accused Mr Smith of trying “a Hail Mary by racing to the Supreme Court and attempting to bypass the appellate process”.<\/p>\n

“There is absolutely no reason to rush this sham to trial except to injure President Trump and tens of millions of his supporters,” a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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