Special Counsel asks SCOTUS to expedite review of Trump immunity claim

In rare cases the Supreme Court grants certiorari before judgment.  Its deference to Donald Trump's agenda yielded an increase in grant of the unusual remedy: certiorari before judgment.

- GWC

 No. 23-624 U.S. v. Donald J. Trump Petition.pdf

In the Supreme Court of the United States No. 23-310 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, PETITIONER v. DONALD J. TRUMP ON PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI BEFORE JUDGMENT TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI BEFORE JUDGMENT 

The Special Counsel, on behalf of the United States, respectfully petitions for a writ of certiorari before judgment to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.1 

 OPINION BELOW The opinion and order of the district court (App., infra, 1a-59a) is not yet reported but is available at 2023 WL 8359833. 

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STATEMENT 

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 when he has been impeached but not convicted before the criminal proceedings begin. 

The district court rejected respondent’s claims, correctly recognizing that former Presidents are not above the law and are accountable for their violations of federal criminal law while in office. App., infra, 7a-38a, 46a-53a. 

Respondent’s appeal of the ruling rejecting his immunity and related claims, however, suspends the trial of the charges against him, scheduled to begin on March 4, 2024. It is of imperative public importance that respondent’s claims of immunity be resolved by this Court and that respondent’s trial proceed as promptly as possible if his claim of immunity is rejected. 

Respondent’s claims are profoundly mistaken, as the district court 3 held. But only this Court can definitively resolve them. 

The Court should grant a writ of certiorari before judgment to ensure that it can provide the expeditious resolution that this case warrants, just as it did in United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683, 686-687 (1974).