After Donald Trump’s immunity requests were rejected by the D.C. Circuit, Special Counsel Jack Smith was given one week to file his brief to the Supreme Court. Trump has requested to stay (or put the case on hold) regarding his insurrection charges in Washington, D.C. Today, Smith immediately issued a 39-page response. Smith says the speedy trial is of public interest.
“Delay in the resolution of these charges threatens to frustrate the public interest in a speedy and fair verdict — a compelling interest in every criminal case and one that has unique national importance here, as it involves federal criminal charges against a former president for alleged criminal efforts to overturn the results of the presidential election, including through the use of official power,” Smith’s filing said.
Trump plans on delaying the start of the trial in so that the D.C. Circuit could rehear the case. If he lost, the appeal a second time, he would then escalate the case to the United States Supreme Court.
Smith also argued in the filing, “strike at the heart of our democracy… Appellant seeks a stay to prevent proceedings in the district court from moving towards trial, which the district court had scheduled to begin on March 4, 2024… Appellant cannot show, as he must to merit a stay, a fair prospect of success in this court.”