It is not a slam dunk that the Supreme Court will agree to hear Trump’s immunity appeal. However, SCOTUS could let the appeals court’s decision stand.
MSNBC’s Katie Phang tweeted:
Only Trump filing a petition to SCOTUS to ask them to take the appeal would stay the mandate, meaning keep the case from going back to Judge Chutkan for now.
SCOTUS has no obligation to take his case. It could deny his petition for writ of certiorari.
— Katie Phang (@KatiePhang) February 6, 2024
Trump, or The Federalist Society, may have put three justices on the Supreme Court, but those judges are highly opposed to expanding presidential power. What Trump is arguing is an absurd expansion of presidential power that the federal appeals court thoroughly rejected.
Determining the unsettled constitutional question the court would have to decide is tough. Lower courts have ruled against Donald Trump’s immunity defense for years, and Trump has not won a single decision on this issue in any court.
Given this context, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Supreme Court decided not to hear this case, but as Phang speculated, they might want to end this kind of defense being used by any former president so they could take the case just to slam the door on this issue once and for all.
Either way, it is not a given that this Supreme Court agrees to hear Trump’s appeal.
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