Trump's Trials - Supreme Court to consider Trump's immunity claims

Episode Date: February 28, 2024

For this episode of Trump's Trials, NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg.The Supreme Court has decided to hear oral arguments over whether former President Trump is immune from federal prosecution. A three-judge panel previously ruled that Trump did not have broad immunity. The justices will hear arguments the week of April 22nd. Topics include:- Supreme Court's decision - January 6th trial timeline - How this affects the other cases Follow the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify for new episodes each Saturday.Sign up for sponsor-free episodes and support NPR's political journalism at plus.npr.org/trumpstrials.Email the show at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

It's Trump's Trials. I'm Scott Tetreault. This is a persecution. He actually just stormed out of the courtroom. Innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. And we're here with some breaking news. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments over whether former President Donald Trump has broad immunity and therefore cannot be federally prosecuted. The justices have announced they'll hear the arguments the week of April 22nd,

and that raises a big question of whether the federal election interference case will go to trial at some point this summer or even after the November election. Stick with us for the latest news and check back Saturday, where we will dive much deeper into what all of this means for the legal calendar and the political calendar. age, cellular function declines, which may impact changes in energy and strength. Solgar Cellular Nutrition is a holistic collection of cellular nutrients formulated to help fight cellular decline and promote cell health. Learn more at cellularnutrition.solgar.com. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

You're listening to Trump's Trials. I'm Scott Detrow. And now, here's Mary Louise Kelly. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in April on whether former President Trump is immune from prosecution. The court's order this evening keeps Trump's prosecution in the January 6th case on hold. And paralegal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg is here to explain. Hey, Nina. Hey there, Mary. Okay, so explain. What exactly has the court done here? The court said it will hear the Trump case on an expedited basis the week of April 22nd,

and that means that the first trial charging Trump with election interference, which was originally scheduled for early March, is likely to be delayed until June if it takes place at all. So to state the obvious, this is a legal win for Trump, yes? Certainly in the short run it is. He doesn't have to face charges in March. On the other hand, if he loses in the Supreme Court, he could end up facing criminal charges during the summer or fall when he's campaigning for the presidency. Although I should also note that ultimately, if he's elected, he

could just order the Justice Department to drop all the federal charges, but not the state charges against him. Okay, so April, week of April 22nd, you said, and what precisely is the question the court is going to hear? The question is whether a president enjoys a lifetime shield from federal criminal charges for acts he took while in the White House. The Supreme Court has never decided that question. So I'm trying to think, of course, we know there are several other cases against Trump. How does this affect all of the cases outstanding? Well, Trump is facing in all 91 different criminal charges in four different jurisdictions. Two of them are federal.

Both of those are on hold. The other one is the classified documents case. But there are also state racketeering and conspiracy charges pending in Georgia. in Georgia. And then there's the Stormy Daniels case in New York that's also about to commence firing, I think. So the state cases can go ahead, but the federal ones can't until this is decided. Okay, so those are almost certainly going to be delayed. Nina, you just said the court has never before weighed in on such a claim. Do we have any indication? Do we know where the court stands broadly on the issue of presidential immunity? Well, this court, which is a six to three conservative super majority and has three nominees appointed by Trump, is quite different from courts that have ruled on this kind of question before. of question before. President Richard Nixon was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Watergate scandal that saw many of his highest-ranking aides go to prison. But after he

resigned, he was pardoned by President Gerald Ford, so we never got to that question. So the question of presidential immunity remains as it is. In 1974, the justices ruled unanimously that Nixon, then still in office, had to comply with the subpoena for 64 White House tape recordings that were subsequently used as evidence in the prosecution of many of his top administration officials. The Nixon tapes case thus became the leading precedent, suggesting that presidents do not have complete immunity for acts that they commit while in office. NPR's Nina Totenberg, thank you. Thank you. Thanks for listening to Trump's Trials from NPR. Keep an eye out for more episodes like this whenever big news happens. And we'll be back later this week with our regular show on Saturday. I'm Scott Detrow.

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