Donald Trump’s pretrial appeal over immunity and double jeopardy in his federal election interference case poses the possibility of delaying his March trial date. On Friday, Supreme Court justices are set to consider whether to grant review of appeals from Jan. 6 defendants that could also affect Trump’s case.
Those defendants are attacking their obstruction charges that overlap somewhat with the charges against Trump in Washington. Specifically, as NBC News reported, they’re “seeking to dismiss a charge accusing them of obstructing an official proceeding, namely the certification by Congress of President Joe Biden’s election victory, which was disrupted by a mob of Trump supporters.”
Trump is charged with four counts in Washington: conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights. He has pleaded not guilty in that case and in his three other criminal cases, in New York, Georgia and Florida.
The Washington case is the soonest one set for trial and poses the greatest chance of conviction before the 2024 election, raising the stakes for any delay. (Remember: If elected president, Trump could make any federal prosecution against him go away.)
We could learn as soon as Friday whether the justices are taking up the Jan. 6 petitions. They were set for consideration at last week’s private Supreme Court conference but that was postponed following the death of retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. It takes four justices to agree to review an appeal. In addition to these Jan. 6 petitions and Trump’s immunity and double jeopardy appeal that could also be headed to the justices soon, the high court may also soon be asked to weigh in on Trump’s eligibility under the 14th Amendment, which is awaiting a ruling from the Colorado Supreme Court. Subscribe to the Deadline: Legal Newsletter for weekly updates on the top legal stories, including news from the Supreme Court, the Donald Trump cases and more.
Jordan Rubin is the Deadline: Legal Blog writer. He was a prosecutor for the New York County District Attorney’s Office in Manhattan and is the author of “Bizarro," a book about the secret war on synthetic drugs. Before he joined MS NOW, he was a legal reporter for Bloomberg Law.
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