Success for Donald Trump: Supreme Court rejects important application by special investigator

Immunity - Success for Donald Trump: Supreme Court rejects important application by special investigator

Former US President Donald Trump is playing for time in the charges against him for attempted electoral fraud - and has now scored a success. The US Supreme Court announced on Friday that it would not deal with the issue of Trump's immunity for the time being. This means that the planned date for the election fraud trial against Trump in the US capital Washington at the beginning of March can no longer be kept. The decision is a major blow for special prosecutor Jack Smith, who has indicted Trump for his attempts to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election. Meanwhile, new audio footage has emerged that is said to prove how Trump exerted pressure on election officials after the election.

Can Donald Trump be punished at federal level?

Special prosecutor Smith had asked the Supreme Court to quickly clarify whether Trump can be prosecuted at federal level for his behavior after the election three years ago - or whether he is protected by his presidential immunity. Trump's supporters stormed the seat of Congress in Washington on January 6, 2021. Congress had convened there to formally confirm the victory of Democrat Joe Biden in the presidential election. Trump had previously incited his supporters during a speech. Five people died as a result of the riots.

Trump's lawyers argued that the Republican could not be legally prosecuted for actions that were part of his duties as president. However, the judge in charge of the case rejected a corresponding application. Trump's team had appealed against this decision - so the ball is now in the court of appeal's court. However, Special Prosecutor Smith chose an unusual route: he wanted to bypass the Court of Appeal and approached the Supreme Court directly with a request to resolve the issue quickly: "This case involves issues of exceptional national importance."

However, the Supreme Court has now rejected his request without giving any reasons. The appeal must therefore make its way through the courts, which may take some time. An oral hearing before an appeals court is scheduled for January 9. It can be assumed that the case will end up back at the Supreme Court after the court's decision. This would be the first time that the US Supreme Court has dealt with the question of whether ex-presidents enjoy immunity from prosecution at federal level. A trial against Trump in Washington at the beginning of March is therefore unlikely, as the decision of the highest court must be awaited.

Trump versus Biden: The election campaign is in full swing

Trump, who is still facing further criminal charges, wants to enter the White House once again for the Republicans. The 77-year-old is far ahead in internal party polls - the primaries for the candidacy begin in a few weeks. So far, everything points to a re-run of the election campaign between Trump and incumbent President Joe Biden. Trump is counting on delaying the trials against him until after the election. If he wins, he could ask his Attorney General to drop the federal investigation against him.

At the same time, a report in the Detroit News newspaper caused a stir in the USA. The newspaper wrote about an audio recording of Trump from November 2020, which it said it had obtained. In it, Trump is said to have pressured two election officials not to certify the election results for an important district in the US state of Michigan. According to US media, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung stated in response to the report that "all actions were taken by President Trump in fulfillment of his duty as President of the United States to faithfully uphold the law and ensure the integrity of elections".

Trump's alleged phone call fits into the Republican's pattern at the time of urging officials, election officials and politicians not to accept the results of the presidential election. Trump lost the election to Biden. To this day, he does not acknowledge his defeat and spreads the lie of a "stolen" election.