The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) rejected special counsel Jack Smith's plea to expedite the ruling on former president Donald Trump's (R) immunity from being prosecuted for allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
In a brief sentence, the judges dismissed Smith's request.
"The petition for a writ of certiorari before judgment is denied," wrote the court.
The Supreme Court's ruling on Trump's status of immunity would be unprecedented as it would be the first time they have ruled on an ex-president's immunity from prosecution.
“This case presents a fundamental question at the heart of our democracy: whether a former President is absolutely immune from federal prosecution for crimes committed while in office or is constitutionally protected from federal prosecution when he has been impeached but not convicted before the criminal proceedings begin,” wrote the case's prosecutors.
“Former Presidents enjoy no special conditions on their federal criminal liability,” stated U.S. district judge Tanya Chutkan.
Trump is not the only one facing charges related to the 2020 presidential election. Former New York City mayor and lawyer to Trump, Rudy Giuliani, was ordered to pay $148 million to two Georgia election workers. Giuliani was accused of defamation by the two workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss.
The former mayor was convicted of making false statements that Freeman and Moss had tampered with votes by stuffing ballots. Furthermore, Giuliani claimed that the two workers used a USB drive in an attempt to rig the 2020 presidential election. The drive that Giuliani claimed to see turned out to be a mint.
Trump is facing multiple charges from different cases. He is currently in the middle of a civil fraud trial in which he's accused of misleading investors.
The civil fraud trial has resulted in various reprimands of the disgruntled defendant. Having been previously warned to not violate the gag orders, Trump has been fined a total of $15,000 for disobeying the judge's orders.
After hearing his former attorney Michael Cohen's testimony, Trump made statements, both in-person and on social media, claiming that someone very "partisan" was sitting next to the judge. These accusations put the former president in trouble as he ran the risk of receiving a financial penalty for his words.
Judge Engoron found Trump's comments to be directed at his law clerk, which he deemed to be unacceptable. Trump, however, claimed that his comments were not targeted at the judge's law clerk, but at Cohen.
Engoron awarded him his second penalty of $10,000 and gave him a stern warning to not do it again.
Trump has repeatedly defended himself from accusations that he inflated his net worth.
“I’m worth billions of dollars more than the financial statements,” said Trump. He continued to accuse the state lawyer, saying “You go around and try and demean me and try and hurt me, probably for political reasons.”
