The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday declined to step in early and decide whether Donald Trump is immune from prosecution in his federal election interference case.
It’s a limited win for Trump, who opposed early review by the justices, citing the fact that the case was already being litigated on a fast track in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
In a one-sentence order on Friday, the justices didn’t explain their decision not to take up the case at this point, nor did they note how they voted on the matter if there was any disagreement, neither of which is unusual for such an order.
Special counsel Jack Smith had asked for early intervention from the high court. Trump initially appealed to the D.C. Circuit after losing in the district court, and Smith sought to leapfrog that intermediate appellate court ahead of the scheduled March trial in Washington. The case is on hold pending resolution of Trump’s appeal, in which the former president also argues that double jeopardy principles bar his prosecution over conduct for which he was acquitted by the Senate at his second impeachment trial.
Notably, this Supreme Court development doesn’t mean the justices are staying out of the case forever. In fact, they could be asked rather soon to hear an appeal from whichever side loses in the D.C. Circuit. Expedited briefing is due in the appeals court over the next couple of weeks, with oral argument set for Jan. 9.
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