Former President Donald Trump has petitioned the Supreme Court, using his presidential immunity as an argument against prosecution in the 2020 election meddling case brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
Just days after a D.C. appeals court said that Trump, the former president and GOP front-runner for 2024, is not immune from prosecution in Smith's case, Trump's attorneys on Monday afternoon submitted an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court, as Fox News reported.
To buy more time for the Trump legal team to pursue an appeal to the Supreme Court regarding the merits of whether a former president deserves immunity from criminal prosecution for acts while in office, they are requesting temporary relief to prevent the appeals court mandate from taking effect.
While the immunity matter is being resolved, the trial that is based on Smith's case against Trump will not proceed.This first urgent appeal may be reviewed more quickly at the request of the Justice Department.
"If the prosecution of a President is upheld, such prosecutions will recur and become increasingly common, ushering in destructive cycles of recrimination," the petition states.
"Criminal prosecution, with its greater stigma and more severe penalties, imposes a far greater ‘personal vulnerability’ on the President than any civil penalty."
The request adds, "The threat of future criminal prosecution by a politically opposed Administration will overshadow every future President’s official acts — especially the most politically controversial decisions."
The request states that the president's "political opponents will seek to influence and control his or her decisions via effective extortion or blackmail with the threat, explicit or implicit, of indictment by a future, hostile Administration, for acts that do not warrant any such prosecution."
"This threat will hang like a millstone around every future President’s neck, distorting Presidential decision-making, undermining the President’s independence, and clouding the President’s ability ‘to deal fearlessly and impartially with’ the duties of his office.'"
Trump's lawyers added, "Without immunity from criminal prosecution, the Presidency as we know it will cease to exist."
A Trump spokesperson described the filing as a "powerhouse filing."
"As President Trump’s powerhouse Supreme Court filing explains, if immunity is not granted to a President, every future President who leaves office will face the prospect of being wrongfully indicted by the opposing party," the spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
"Without complete immunity, the President of the United States will not be able to function properly. Even while the President is still in office, his political opponents will use the threat of future prosecution as a weapon, effectively blackmailing and extorting him to influence his most sensitive and important decisions."
The spokesperson added, "The Supreme Court should grant the requested stay and put an end to Deranged Jack Smith’s repeated attempts to corruptly short-circuit the ordinary and correct functioning of our justice system."
The trial was scheduled to begin on March 4, the day before the crucial Super Tuesday primary contests, when the GOP nominee will be chosen in Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Vermont.
However, federal judge Tanya Chutkan of Washington, D.C., officially postponed the trial earlier this month.
