Imminent appeals court rulings will have 'major implications' on Jack Smith's case against Trump: report

At least three pending court cases could impact the case against special counsel Jack Smith's Jan. 6 case against Donald Trump.

Those rulings by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals may be issued in the coming weeks and could shape how Judge Tanya Chutkan views the law covering charges against the former president for his efforts to overturn his election loss, reported CNN.

"In one case, Trump ally and Republican Rep. Scott Perry is challenging the access federal investigators can have to his phone in the 2020 election subversion probe," the network reported.

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"Another dispute is over Trump’s sweeping immunity claims in the civil lawsuits that have sought to hold him accountable for his actions leading up to the January 6, 2021, Capitol assault.

"The third matter relates to the obstruction statute that has been a central charge in the Capitol riot prosecutions; Smith’s indictment of the former president in the election case includes two charges based on the provision in question."

The rulings may not be issued during the term starting in early September, and they could each eventually wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court on appeal, but the cases demonstrate the uncertainty the special counsel faces in prosecuting a former president.

"A provision in the statute that criminalizes corrupt efforts to obstruct official proceedings has been a staple of the Capitol rioter prosecutions," CNN reported. It also provided the basis of two charges Smith brought against the former president. What the appeals court says about using the obstruction law to prosecute January 6 rioters could have major implications for Trump’s case, and his ability to seek its dismissal."

The appeals court has not yet decided whether investigators can access some of the data on Perry's phone that he is seeking to block under the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause, and that ruling could impact Smith's case against Trump.

"What the DC Circuit says will likely affect not just prosecutors’ pursuit of information from Perry’s phone, and what the special counsel can obtain of his communications with alleged conspirators or Trump himself, future law enforcement efforts that touch on members of Congress, both in the 2020 election context and in other criminal investigations down the road," CNN reported.