Appeals court rules Trump not immune in Jan 6 case
Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley joins "America's Newsroom" to discuss his take on the ruling. Fox News' David Spunt also weighs in on the order and what it could mean for the timeline of his trial.
A federal appeals court on Tuesday struck down former President Trump's immunity claim, relating to prosecution over his alleged attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss. Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley told "America's Newsroom" that the ruling sets up a lengthy appeals process leading to the Supreme Court, which grows more complicated as the 2024 election nears.
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JONATHAN TURLEY: This is the result some of us predicted. The panel was very skeptical of these arguments. What former President Trump was advancing was a sweeping and unprecedented claim of immunity, and it's not surprising that this panel rejected it. The interesting thing about this opinion is that they cite the impeachment and quote from it as saying that the president sought to incite this effort to overturn the election. And that's going to go forward. The most practical impact of this appeal was indeed the delay that it caused. It was very important for the Trump team to try to push this trial back. They succeeded in doing that, as you mentioned. Now, the next stage here is that they can ask for review of the entire court, what's called en banc petition. That has to be reviewed and voted on even if they reject it, and that will take some time. And then they will no doubt appeal to the Supreme Court, which now has a considerable stack on the desks of these justices, including election-related cases.
Donald Trump and Jack Smith
The interesting dynamic about this case is that Jack Smith is telling every court it's absolutely urgent that we move this trial forward. And he made it clear that he wants this president tried and convicted before the election. The Supreme Court clearly didn't share that urgency. It refused to do that. And so it's not clear that they're going to feel even greater urgency now. The March date is not on the calendar anymore. And as we move towards the election date, it gets more controversial to have a trial of this kind within a couple of months of the election. So we'll have to see how the Supreme Court deals with this. The outcome is not surprising for many of us, but what remains the unknown is how this will change the schedule and dynamic of the case.
The Supreme Court of the United States (Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States via Getty Images)
The U.S. Court of Appeals - D.C. Circuit considered Trump’s claim of presidential immunity from prosecution for his actions in office, including his alleged role in overturning his 2020 election loss, ultimately saying it was "unpersuaded by his argument" and ruled a case against him can proceed.
The court determined: "We conclude that the interest in criminal accountability, held by both the public and the Executive Branch, outweighs the potential risks of chilling Presidential action and permitting vexatious litigation."
Trump has up to 90 days to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The trial date carries enormous political ramifications and Trump hopes an eventual decision will be delayed until after the November election.
Should that happen and if Trump defeats President Biden, he could presumably try to use his position as head of the executive branch to dismiss the case. He could also potentially seek a pardon for himself, although such a situation has no precedent.
Fox News' Lawrence Richard contributed to this report.
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