Former White House ethics lawyer Jim Schultz, who served in the Trump administration, said Monday that former President Trump’s petition for immunity will be “swiftly” denied as he faces multiple federal prosecutions.
The Supreme Court decided not to hear whether Trump can be prosecuted for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election on December 22. Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith attempted to bypass an immediate appeals process and bring the issue directly before the high court to keep the trial on schedule, but the court denied his request.
The case will now be heard by the District of Columbia Circuit Court, which Schultz describes as “kind of a warm-up act for a Supreme Court,” because many of the justices came from the circuit court.
“So, Jack Smith has a winner with this one, right?” Schultz stated this in an interview with CNN, which was noted by Mediaite. “And I think in this instance, the D.C. Circuit Court is going to act swiftly.”
“And I think they’re going to knock down this immunity claim, you know, very swiftly,” he said.
The former president’s defense team argued that Trump should be immune from prosecution in the case since the conduct detailed in the indictment occurred while he was still in office, including the incident on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The original judge hearing the case had earlier dismissed their argument.
Trump filed an appeal with the D.C. Circuit Court, and Smith denied his request for immunity.
In a filing, Smith stated that a former president may face “investigation, indictment, trial, and if convicted, punishment for conduct committed during the Presidency.”
“The President stands alone in the constitutional firmament, but legal principles and historical evidence establish that, once out of office, a former President may face federal criminal prosecution like any other citizen,” the statement adds.