Former President Trump has begun to use the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling in his classified documents criminal case.
in Court documents filed FridayTrump has asked U.S. District Judge Eileen Cannon to halt most proceedings in the case until his immunity defense is resolved, and his lawyers have proposed a timeline of written arguments that would extend into early September, meaning a ruling wouldn’t be issued until at least the fall.
“Resolution of these fundamental questions is necessary to minimize the harm to the institution of the Presidency that may result from this unconstitutional investigation and prosecution,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in the motion.
The request marks the latest fallout from the Supreme Court’s landmark decision Monday that granted former presidents at least presumptive criminal immunity for official acts while in office.
Special counsel Jack Smith had previously argued that he was not charging Trump with any official acts in the documents case, but Smith’s team must now contend with a broad line of defense from the Supreme Court that further specifies that official acts cannot be introduced as evidence.
“Consistent with separation of powers principles, the question of whether the President may be held liable for particular acts must be addressed at the beginning of the proceeding,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion.
Trump’s team on Friday asked Cannon to drop the case, except for Smith’s pending request for a gag order.
In their filing, Trump’s legal team also latched onto a single concurring opinion by conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, which questioned whether Smith was lawfully appointed.
“If this unprecedented prosecution is to proceed, it must be conducted by someone duly authorized by the American people. Accordingly, the lower courts should answer these important questions about the appointment of a special counsel before proceeding,” Thomas wrote.
Trump has made that argument in the classified documents lawsuit, and Cannon, a Trump appointee, held a hearing on the issue last month in which he allowed the three lawyers who filed amicus briefs to argue before him, an unusual move that drew sharp criticism from Trump’s critics.
The former president urged Cannon to continue blocking the lawsuit from moving forward until that issue is also resolved.
The former president faces 40 charges that he mishandled classified documents after he left the White House and tried to obstruct the government’s efforts to recover them. He has pleaded not guilty, and a trial date has not yet been set.
Meanwhile, Trump has sought to have 34 recent criminal convictions over hush money overturned in the wake of the Supreme Court’s immunity decision, and the judge has already postponed his ruling until September to consider the issue.
Trump has yet to cite the Supreme Court’s ruling in the other two criminal cases.
