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https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/28/supreme-court-trump-immunity-00143985

Donald Trumps federal trial for seeking to subvert the 2020 election is likely to remain on hold for several more months while the Supreme Court takes up his argument that he is immune from prosecution for actions he took while president.

In a one-page order Wednesday, the court set an expedited schedule to hear the immunity issue, with oral arguments to be set during the week of April 22. In the meantime, proceedings in the trial court will remain frozen.

There was no noted dissent or other explanation of the high courts action.

If the court rules on the matter quickly after the arguments and rejects Trumps immunity claim, it may permit a trial on the election-related charges to occur later this summer or fall.

But the courts decision to keep the pretrial proceedings frozen is a blow to special counsel Jack Smiths effort to bring Trump to trial this year. Smith has charged Trump with four felonies stemming from his bid to subvert the 2020 presidential election.

Trump claims that, as a former president, he enjoys broad immunity from criminal prosecution for acts taken while in office. Lower courts have rejected that claim, but proceedings in the trial court have been paused for more than two months while Trump has litigated the novel immunity question.

In Wednesdays order, the Supreme Court granted Trumps emergency request to maintain that pause while the justices hear Trumps immunity appeal.

If they ultimately rule that Trump has immunity, the charges will be thrown out. If they deny the immunity bid by the end of their term in June, it may still be possible for the trial judge overseeing the case, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, to schedule a trial to begin in late summer or fall.
The timing of the justices eventual ruling could be critical since Chutkan has vowed to give Trump roughly three additional months to prepare for trial if the case is returned to her courtroom.

That hypothetical schedule would guarantee that much of Trumps general election calendar is consumed by his mandatory presence in the courtroom, perhaps overlapping with the Republican National Convention or even Election Day itself.

The decision by the justices also places extra significance on the impending decision by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon regarding the schedule of Trumps other federal criminal trial for hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Cannon is expected to reconfigure the timeline of that trial, currently set for May 20, after a day-long hearing on Friday.

Chutkan had originally intended to begin the election-subversion trial on March 4, but she nixed that start date due to the delays caused by Trumps immunity claim. The trial, if it happens, is expected to last several months.

Its the second case this term that the justices have agreed to take on an emergency basis at Trumps request.

Earlier this month, they heard arguments on Trumps effort to overturn a Colorado Supreme Court decision that he is disqualified from the ballot there as an insurrectionist due to his role in fomenting the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. The justices seemed skeptical of the Colorado courts decision but have yet to issue a ruling on the question.

In addition to his two federal criminal cases, Trump is facing state criminal charges in New York and Georgia.

Trump is set to go on trial March 25 in the New York case, over claims Trump falsified business records to cover up payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to women claiming sexual encounters with him.

No trial date has been set in the Georgia case, where Trump is one of 15 defendants charged in a racketeering conspiracy to interfere with the results of the 2020 presidential election in that state. Trump has pleaded not guilty in all the cases.

So these sacks of shit had it for 3 weeks just sitting around and says they're not going to debate it until 2 months from now, and who knows how long they'll take to deliberate as we still don't have their ruling on Colorado's case even though we already know to expect a likely 9-0. Them taking the case is also an indicator that they want to agree with some and disagree with other parts of the argument, when it should be wholly dismissed. And they're not allowing the case to proceed until their ruling. Jack Smith had already sent the prosecutor's arguments to the Judges weeks ago in the idea of saving time on the issue since they'd already know where they want to fall, and they took that suggestion and thought "nah, how long can we stretch this out".

Ridiculous that they'd do blatantly help Trump run out the clock as a trial date would likely be too close to November and the DOJ will most likely not want to have a trial so close to the election.

Fucking sacks of shit.