WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on whether former President Donald Trump is immune from prosecution in a federal case that is charging him with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
On Thursday, the country’s highest court will discuss a potentially historic ruling about the scope of presidential power.
Trump is the first ex-president to face criminal charges, making his appeal the first time in the country’s history that the Supreme Court has had to weigh in on this issue.
Though Justice Department policy prohibits the indictment of a sitting president, there’s no bar against charging a former one.
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What is Trump charged with?
FILE - U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a "Save America Rally" near the White House in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. Photographer: Shawn Thew/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The former president was charged in August 2023 by special counsel Jack Smith with conspiring to overturn the results of his election loss to President Joe Biden in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
His charges include four counts: obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and conspiracy to prevent others from carrying out their constitutional rights.
Why is SCOTUS getting involved?
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The Supreme Court will be the third set of judges to address the question in the last six months.
Trump’s lawyers last October asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, the trial judge overseeing the case, to dismiss the indictment on presidential immunity grounds.
The judge rejected Trump’s claims of absolute immunity, saying in December 2023 that the office of the presidency does not confer a "lifelong ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ pass."
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An appeals court this past February held the same standard, with a three-judge panel saying that for the purposes of this case, "former President Trump has become citizen Trump, with all of the defenses of any other criminal defendant."
Trump appealed to the high court, which after several weeks, announced that it would consider "whether and if so to what extent does a former President enjoy presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office."
When will Trump’s case go to trial if SCOTUS rejects his request for immunity?
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If the justices rule against Trump and in favor of the government, the case would be returned to Chutkan.
Any trial would still be several months away, in part because of Chutkan’s decision last December to effectively freeze the case pending the outcome of Trump’s appeal. She’s also committed to giving prosecutors and defense lawyers time to get ready for trial if the case returns to her court.
What if Trump wins the election?
If Trump officially secures the GOP nomination and defeats Biden in November, he could potentially try to order a new attorney general to dismiss the federal cases against him, or he could even seek a pardon for himself.
Smith’s team didn’t mention the election in its filing urging the Supreme Court to reject Trump’s effort to further delay the case. But prosecutors noted that the case has "unique national importance," adding that "delay in the resolution of these charges threatens to frustrate the public interest in a speedy and fair verdict."
Trump, meanwhile, has accused Smith of trying to rush the case to trial for political reasons.
His lawyers told the Supreme Court in their filing that holding the trial "at the height of election season will radically disrupt Trump’s ability to campaign against Biden — which appears to be the whole point of the Special Counsel’s persistent demands for expedition."
How to watch Trump’s immunity case at the Supreme Court
Live audio of the arguments is shared by the Supreme Court, which will be broadcast by LiveNOW from FOX in the livestream player at the top of this article.
On its website, the high court also has an audio stream of the arguments, which are set to begin at 10 a.m. ET on Thursday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles.
