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5 months ago
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Former President Donald Trump has requested a partial pause in the classified documents case brought against him after a U.S. Supreme Court decision this week found that presidents have substantial immunity for official acts that occurred while they were in office.
Lawyers for Trump asked a Florida court to pause all proceedings in the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith — except those that deal with Smith’s gag order request — until the judge can apply the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling to the facts of the case.
"Consistent with President Trump’s pending motion to dismiss based on Presidential immunity, the Supreme Court explained in Trump that it would ‘eviscerate the immunity we have recognized’ if a prosecutor could "do indirectly what he cannot do directly — invite the jury to examine acts for which a President is immune from prosecution to nonetheless prove his liability on any charge," the Friday court filing states.
It adds: "Thus, ‘even when an indictment alleges only unofficial conduct,’ which is not the case here, prosecutors cannot ‘[u]se evidence' of official acts. Based on this reasoning, like the trial court in the Trump case, Your Honor must undertake the ‘necessarily factbound analysis’ regarding whether alleged conduct ‘is official or unofficial.’"
TRUMP IMMUNITY CASE: SUPREME COURT RULES EX-PRESIDENTS HAVE SUBSTANTIAL PROTECTION FROM PROSECUTION
Trump referred to the filing as "a really bad day for Deranged Jack Smith, the wacko prosecutor used for Crooked Joe Biden’s attack on his Political Opponent," in a Friday post on Truth Social.
"Today, as in the past, the Supreme Court gave the Deranged One a high level SPANKING! His ‘real’ bosses, Andrew Weissmann and Lisa Monaco, not to mention Merrick Garland, whose once great reputation has been shattered by these Thugs, and his constant defense of Crooked Joe, must be furious at him," Trump wrote. "Garland ought to call an end to this never ending HOAX, and let people focus on bringing back Greatness to America!"
The high court on Monday in the case Trump v. United States ruled that a former president has substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts committed while in office, but not for unofficial acts.
SCOTUS WEIGHS MONUMENTAL CONSTITUTIONAL FIGHT OVER TRUMP IMMUNITY CLAIM
In a 6-3 decision, the Court sent the matter back to a lower court, as the justices did not apply the ruling to whether or not former President Trump is immune from prosecution regarding actions related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The case considered by the court was separate from the classified documents case, although Smith is involved in both prosecutions.
"The President enjoys no immunity for his unofficial acts, and not everything the President does is official," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority.
Last month, Trump's lawyers presented arguments over the legality of Smith's appointment as special counsel and the limited gag order that prosecutors have requested to bar Trump from making comments that they say could endanger the safety of FBI agents and other law enforcement officials involved in the case.
Trump’s lawyers have said any speech restrictions would infringe on the former president's free speech rights. Cannon initially rejected the prosecution’s request on technical grounds, saying Smith’s team had not sufficiently conferred with defense lawyers before seeking the restrictions. Prosecutors subsequently renewed the request.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon heard hours of arguments on June 24 from lawyers for both sides, with Trump attorney Emil Bove asserting that the Justice Department risked creating a "shadow government" through the appointment of special counsels to prosecute select criminal cases.
Cannon did not make a decision on Friday and is expected to issue a written order on the matter in the coming days.
Trump faces charges stemming from Smith's investigation into his possession of classified materials. He pleaded not guilty to all 37 felony counts from Smith’s probe, including willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements.
Trump was also charged with an additional three counts as part of a superseding indictment from the investigation, an additional count of willful retention of national defense information and two additional obstruction counts.
Fox News Digital's Anders Hagstrom and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
