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Supreme Court won't expedite a hearing on Trump's immunity argument

The high court did not give a reason for denying the request, which is not uncommon.
FILE - Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Summerville, S.C., Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. Trump plans to use a college football rivalry weekend to bask among his supporters in South Carolina, while potentially upstaging his Republican opponent Nikki Haley on her home turf. The front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination will be on hand Saturday as the University of South Carolina Gamecocks host the Tigers of Clemson University in the annual Palmetto Bowl. (AP Photo/Artie Walker Jr., File)
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The U.S. Supreme Court denied Special Counsel Jack Smith's request to expedite a hearing on whether former President Donald Trump is immune from prosecution in the federal case that accuses him of trying to overturn the 2020 election results. 

The high court did not give a reason for denying the request, which is not uncommon. 

Trump urged the Supreme Court to wait for a decision from a lower appeals court in Washington, which is already considering the same question. Arguments in the case scheduled to begin on Jan. 9. 

SEE MORE: Report: Trump pressured Michigan officials not to certify 2020 vote

Smith had wanted to bypass the appeals court, likely assuming the decision would be appealed to the Supreme Court by either side. 

However, Trump attorneys cautioned about rushing the process. 

“Importance does not automatically necessitate speed. If anything, the opposite is usually true. Novel, complex, sensitive, and historic issues — such as the existence of presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts — call for more careful deliberation, not less," Trump's lawyers wrote in a response to the filing with the Supreme Court. 

The decision by the Supreme Court could delay a trial in the case. Prosecutors had hoped to take the case to trial before the 2024 presidential election.

Trump is the front-runner for the Republican nomination. If he wins the 2024 election, federal cases involving Trump would likely go away. 


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