A former Trump White House lawyer said the former president will “swiftly” lose his claim for presidential immunity.
Trump’s lawyers have asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to throw out his federal election subversion case arguing that the former president has absolute immunity.
Special Counsel Jack Smith urged the court to reject Trump’s claims of immunity. Smith argued that there is no blanket immunity from criminal prosecution for presidents, much less a former president who has been charged with crimes relating to an effort to stop the peaceful transfer of power.
“So, Jack Smith has a winner with this one, right?” former White House lawyer Jim Schultz told CNN in an interview. “It’s common knowledge in the legal community, D.C. Circuit Court is kind of the warm up act for the Supreme Court.”
“I think in this instance the D.C. Circuit Court is going to act swiftly,” he added. “And I think they’re going to knock down this immunity claim, you know, very swiftly.”
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Smith’s request last month to fast-track arguments on whether Trump is immune from criminal prosecution for his actions to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
However, both parties will still have the option of appealing the DC Circuit Court of Appeals decision to the Supreme Court.
Trump was indicted in August on four charges related to his attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction, and conspiracy against the right to vote and to have one’s vote counted. He has pleaded not guilty.
