ReutersDonald Trump
NOS News•today, 02:52•Changed today, 08:43
The US Supreme Court will consider whether a former president can be prosecuted for his actions while in office. The court is responding to a request from Donald Trump, who believes that as a former president he cannot be prosecuted for attempts to manipulate the 2020 election results. A lower court previously rejected Trump’s immunity from prosecution.
Last year, Trump was charged by federal prosecutor Jack Smith with attempting to undermine the outcome of the previous presidential election. Trump lost to Joe Biden, but falsely claimed there was fraud.
If the Supreme Court were not to review the lower court’s ruling, a trial against Trump could likely start this year. But four of the nine Supreme Court justices decided to take up the case, which was enough. The hearing of the case will begin at the end of April.
VS-correspondent Rudy Bouma:
“This is very good news for Trump. Not necessarily because he has a good chance at the Supreme Court, but more because this will delay the case of federal prosecutor Jack Smith very much and that is in his interest. This case will be heard in the week of 22 April, then it is estimated that the court will not make a ruling until the end of June.
Whether it is in his favor or against him, it will take another month or two before the lawsuit can be put on the agenda. Then you will be at the end of August and there will be no more judgment against him before the elections. In addition, there are regulations that such a prosecution may not take place so close to the elections, which would mean that there may no longer be a case before November.
So in all cases, Trump benefits from delaying things this way. “Imagine if he is elected president, he will have all kinds of ways to avoid persecution, or pardon himself.”
Trump himself reacted enthusiastically to the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case. According to him, it cannot be the case that a president should fear prosecution during his term of office for decisions he makes in office. They would therefore become politically paralyzed and could become victims of extortion.
Opponents raised serious doubts about that reasoning at an earlier hearing. For example, lower judges wondered aloud whether this would not mean that a president could have his political rival murdered by a commando team without consequences, which Trump’s lawyer agreed.
From the ballot paper
Several lawsuits are pending against Trump. He is on track to become the Republican candidate for the presidential elections in November, with Nikki Haley as the only remaining candidate. She has indicated that she will not give up the fight for the time being, reportedly also in the hope that lawsuits against Trump will ultimately destroy him.
The Supreme Court is also still assessing whether Trump can be banned from the ballot in various states in the primaries. Colorado and Maine reasoned that he should not run for office there because he would be guilty of rebellion due to his role in the storming of the Capitol in 2021.
Last night, a judge in Illinois also removed Trump from the ballot in that state. As in the other two states, that judgment has been suspended until the Supreme Court has ruled. Trump calls his exclusion unconstitutional and says his voters are being deprived of their vote.
2024-02-29 07:43:01
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