Jack Smith urges Supreme Court to reject Trump’s ‘unprecedented’ claim of criminal immunity

Special counsel Jack Smith has urged the US Supreme Court to reject Donald Trump’s “unprecedented” claim that presidential immunity protects him from facing federal charges for trying to overturn the 2020 election.

In a 66-page legal filing on Monday, the special counsel’s office wrote that “a bedrock principle of our constitutional order is that no person is above the law — including the president”.

“The Constitution does not give a president the power to conspire to defraud the United States in the certification of presidential-election results, obstruct proceedings for doing so or deprive voters of the effect of their votes,” the filing adds.

The former president was indicted on four federal charges in August relating to his alleged attempt to unlawfully overturn the 2020 presidential election in his favour. He has pleaded not guilty and claims – without evidence – that the prosecution is politically motivated.

In fighting the indictment, Mr Trump has claimed that presidential immunity protects him from the special counsel’s charges.

After several lower federal courts rejected the claim, Mr Trump asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on the question in December.

“From 1789 to 2023, no former, or current, president faced criminal charges for his official acts — for good reason,” Mr Trump’s attorneys argued in a brief to the high court last month.

“The president cannot function, and the presidency itself cannot retain its vital independence, if the president faces criminal prosecution for official acts once he leaves office.”

The Supreme Court is expected to hear full arguments on the immunity question on 25 April.

The special counsel’s office argues that, while presidential immunity limits the ability of presidents