OPINION:
The Supreme Court has agreed to promptly consider whether it will weigh in on critical questions related to the criminal charges against former President Donald Trump.
Reverberations from the outcome could affect hundreds of defendants embroiled in their own legal troubles related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Americans can only hope the settling of momentous legalities remaining from the last presidential election does not end up interfering with the looming 2024 contest.
Special counsel Jack Smith sidestepped the U.S. Court of Appeals in petitioning the Supreme Court to fast-track a ruling on whether Mr. Trump is entitled to absolute immunity for purported crimes Mr. Smith claims the former president committed while in office. The justices fairly tripped over their robes in eagerness to entertain Mr. Smith’s request, ordering Mr. Trump’s defense team to file a response by Dec. 20.
On Wednesday, the high court added to its to-do list for the new year a separate case brought by three Jan. 6 defendants that could affect the fate of more than 300 others, some languishing in jail. Their convictions hinge on the same novel interpretation of the law Mr. Smith is using against Mr. Trump: obstruction of an official proceeding. The convergence of cases is likely no coincidence.
If the justices ultimately agree to hear the presidential immunity case, they risk playing havoc with the timing of the former president’s trial on obstruction and three other federal charges stemming from his challenge to the 2020 presidential election results. The proceeding is scheduled to begin March 4, the day before the all-important Super Tuesday — also a dubious coincidence.
Ruling in favor of Mr. Trump’s immunity defense would incur the wrath of Washington officialdom, a rarity for the court of Chief Justice John Roberts.
Surely, the black-bedecked nine are mindful that Mr. Smith’s “extraordinary request” for hasty judgment plays into President Biden’s interest in boosting his second-term bid by sinking Mr. Trump’s. A denial of immunity would put the former president in the dock before a D.C. jury, which fairly guarantees a conviction: “At least 130 defendants have been convicted at trial — not one has been acquitted by a jury — and hundreds have been sentenced to prison time ranging from seven days to 22 years,” legal analyst Julie Kelly wrote in RealClearInvestigations.
Still, there is no assurance that a conviction would crush Mr. Trump’s candidacy. A September CNN poll found 64% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents believe the charges against Mr. Trump are not relevant to his fitness for the presidency, including efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
In the tandem Jan. 6 case, were the high court to throw out the convictions of the three defendants charged with obstructing an official proceeding, the special counsel’s parallel proceeding against Mr. Trump would join hundreds of overturned convictions in the land of legal jeopardy. The Donald would forge ahead in polls that already favor him, to the delight of his MAGA millions.
Pivotal decisions confront the Supreme Court. Whichever way the cases turn, Americans may see interference in the 2024 election. Behind her blindfold, Lady Justice must thread the needle.
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