特别顾问杰克·史密斯的团队已经要求最高法院介入并决定前总统唐纳德·特朗普的总统豁免权问题联邦选举干预指控。
在史密斯周一提出请求几个小时后，法院表示将尽快考虑这一请求。
法院写道:“申请人请求在判决前加快对诉讼文件移送令申请的审议，被告被要求在2023年12月20日星期三下午4点(美国东部时间)或之前对申请做出回应。”这一答复并不意味着法院将受理这一案件----只是说它将尽快考虑这一请求。
史密斯要求法院立即解决豁免权问题，以防止3月4日审判日期的任何延误。
这位特别律师在周一提交的文件中写道:“被告的豁免权要求由本法院解决，如果被告的豁免权要求被驳回，对被告的审判将尽快进行，这对公众至关重要。”
10月，特朗普的法律团队提交了第一份动议驳回此案，引用特朗普律师的说法，即他对在美国最高办公室任职期间采取的行动享有“绝对豁免权”。
负责此案的法官，华盛顿地区法官Tanya Chutkan驳回了该动议。
在这张2022年11月15日的资料照片中，前总统唐纳德·特朗普在佛罗里达州棕榈滩的家中发表讲话后离开舞台。
乔·雷德尔/盖蒂图片社，档案
特朗普已经向巡回法院提起上诉，并要求在上诉期间暂停此事的所有诉讼。周末，史密斯的团队表示地方法院应该拒绝请求停止诉讼。
史密斯引用的案例是美国诉尼克松案，当时理查德·尼克松总统在水门丑闻期间拒绝向特别检察官移交白宫的秘密录音带。
从历史上看，这种罕见的程序只有在对公众具有“迫切”重要性的情况下才会被批准，史密斯自己也承认了这一点。
“美国认识到这是一个非同寻常的请求，”史密斯的文件说。“这是一个非同寻常的案例。”
特朗普的发言人在一份声明中说:“史密斯愿意通过跑到最高法院并试图绕过上诉程序来尝试孤注一掷。”“除了伤害特朗普总统和他的数千万支持者之外，绝对没有理由急于审判这个骗局。”
此举可能对史密斯构成巨大风险，他针对特朗普的整个案件可能取决于最高法院的一项具有里程碑意义的决定，这可能是美国历史上第一次决定美国前总统是否可以因任职期间采取的行动而受到起诉。
史密斯写道:“不需要更多的讨论就可以确认，这个案件——涉及被告试图通过违反联邦刑法来阻挠权力和平转移的指控——是公共重要性的顶点。”
“这些指控暗示了我们民主的一个核心原则，”史密斯在文件中说。“指控称，被告共谋以多种方式违反法律:故意使用欺诈手段阻碍总统选举进程;阻挠宪法规定的国会计票程序;并试图剥夺数百万选民对总统的选举选择权。”
8月的特朗普不服罪被控通过招募一系列所谓的“假选举人”，利用司法部进行“虚假选举犯罪调查”，试图招募副总统“改变选举结果”，并在1月6日暴乱肆虐时宣传虚假的选举舞弊指控，以推翻2020年选举的结果——所有这些都是为了颠覆民主，继续掌权。
前总统否认了所有的不法行为。
Supreme Court will consider special counsel's request to rule on Trump's immunity in Jan. 6 case
Special counsel Jack Smith's team has asked the Supreme Court to step in and decide the issue of presidential immunity regarding former President Donald Trump'sfederal election interferencecharges.
Hours after Smith filed his request Monday, the court said it would consider the request on an expedited basis.
"Petitioner's motion to expedite consideration of the petition for a writ of certiorari before judgment is granted, and respondent is directed to file a response to the petition on or before 4 p.m. (EST) on Wednesday, December 20, 2023," the court wrote. The response does not mean the court will take up the case -- only that it will consider the request in an expedited fashion.
Smith is asking the court to immediately resolve the immunity issue, to prevent any delay of the March 4 trial date.
"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," the special counsel wrote in his filing Monday.
In October, Trump's legal teamfiled its first motionto dismiss the case, citing what Trump's lawyers claim is his "absolute immunity" from prosecution for actions taken while serving in the nation's highest office.
The judge overseeing the case, D.C. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, rejected the motion.
Trump has appealed to the circuit court and asked for all proceedings to be stayed in the matter, pending appeal. Over the weekend, Smith's team said the district court shoulddeny the requestto halt the proceedings.
The case Smith cites in asking the Supreme Court to step in by using "certiorari before judgment" -- essentially a line-skip before an appeals court has a chance to weigh in -- is the United States v. Nixon, when President Richard Nixon refused to hand over secret White House tape recordings to a special prosecutor during the Watergate scandal.
Historically, the rare procedure is only granted in cases that are of "imperative" importance to the public, as Smith himself acknowledges.
"The United States recognizes that this is an extraordinary request," Smith's filing says. "This is an extraordinary case."
"Smith is willing to try for a Hail Mary by racing to the Supreme Court and attempting to bypass the appellate process," a spokesperson for Trump said in a statement. "There is absolutely no reason to rush this sham to trial except to injure President Trump and tens of millions of his supporters."
The move could represent an enormous risk for Smith, whose entire case against Trump could hinge on a landmark decision from the Supreme Court that could -- for the first time in American history -- determine whether a former U.S. president can be prosecuted for actions taken while in office.
"It requires no extended discussion to confirm that this case -- involving charges that respondent sought to thwart the peaceful transfer of power through violations of federal criminal law -- is at the apex of public importance," Smith writes.
"The charges implicate a central tenet of our democracy," Smith says in the filing. "And the charges allege that respondent conspired to transgress the law in manifold ways: by intentionally using fraudulent means to obstruct the presidential electoral process; by obstructing constitutionally prescribed processes in Congress for counting electoral votes; and by seeking to deprive millions of voters of their electoral choice for President."
Trump in Augustpleaded not guiltyto charges of undertaking a "criminal scheme" to overturn the results of the 2020 election by enlisting a slate of so-called "fake electors," using the Justice Department to conduct "sham election crime investigations," trying to enlist the vice president to "alter the election results," and promoting false claims of a stolen election as the Jan. 6 riot raged -- all in an effort to subvert democracy and remain in power.
The former president has denied all wrongdoing.
