Trump immunity claim: DOJ special counsel pushes Supreme Court for quick action on appeal

The federal special counsel prosecuting Donald Trump urged the Supreme Court on Thursday to quickly hear an appeal on whether he has presidential immunity, to avoid "undue delay" in holding a trial on criminal charges for efforts to undo his defeat in the 2020 election.

"The resolution of the question presented is pivotal to whether the former President himself will stand trial — which is scheduled to begin less than three months in the future," Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith wrote in a new filing with the Supreme Court.

"The public interest in a prompt resolution of this case favors an immediate, definitive decision by this Court," Smith wrote." The charges here are of the utmost gravity. This case involves — for the first time in our Nation's history — criminal charges against a former President based on his actions while in office."

The filing came a day after Trump's lawyers in their filing told the Supreme Court that it should not immediately take the case, in which they are appealing a federal trial court judge's ruling in Washington, D.C., that Trump does not have immunity even though he was president at the time of the alleged crimes.

Trump's attorneys argue that their appeal should first be heard by the federal appeals court in Washington, which at Smith's request has already expedited proceedings for that bid.