Special counsel Jack Smith on Thursday reiterated his request for the Supreme Court to immediately decide whether Donald Trump has presidential immunity from alleged crimes he committed while in office.
“The public interest in a prompt resolution of this case favors an immediate, definitive decision by this Court. The charges here are of the utmost gravity,” Smith told the justices in a new filing.
The high court is currently considering whether to decide the immunity dispute before a federal appeals court weighs in. Trump on Wednesday urged the court to not skip over the appeals court.
Trump, whose legal strategy in the case so far has largely revolved around attempts to delay the proceedings. Smith’s move to have the high court intervene is an attempt to cut short Trump’s approach.
Smith said the high court should move to swiftly decide the issue just like it did in a Watergate-era case concerning then-President Richard Nixon.
“Here, the stakes are at least as high, if not higher: the resolution of the question presented is pivotal to whether the former President himself will stand trial – which is scheduled to begin less than three months in the future,” the special counsel said.
In 1974, the Supreme Court leapfrogged over an appeals court to quickly hear a case in which the justices ultimately rejected Nixon’s claims of presidential privilege in a subpoena fight over Oval Office tapes.
Trump, in asking the justices to hold off on hearing the dispute now, said in court papers Wednesday that Smith wants to push ahead with “reckless abandon” to try to unfairly rush him to trial this March.
Smith pushed back strongly on Thursday, saying Trump’s “claims about the reasons why the government is seeking review are unfounded and incorrect.”
The former president, Smith told the justices, “stands accused of serious crimes because the grand jury followed the facts and applied the law. The government seeks this Court’s resolution of the immunity claim so that those charges may be promptly resolved, whatever the result.”
“Enforcing federal criminal laws that prohibit such conduct is vital to protecting our constitutional processes and democracy itself,” Smith said.
This story has been updated with additional details.