Trump asks Supreme Court to reject Jack Smith's petition to keep DC trial on track

Attorneys for Donald Trump have asked the Supreme Court to reject a request from special counsel Jack Smith to decide if the former president has immunity from prosecution for his actions leading up to the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021.

In a petition earlier this month, Smith took the unusual step of trying to bypass a federal appeals court, which could delay Trump's election subversion case for months.

"The United States recognizes that this is an extraordinary request. This is an extraordinary case," Smith wrote.

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In a filing on Wednesday, Trump's team accused Smith of wrongly framing the question as one of presidential immunity for "crimes committed in office."

The attorneys said the high court should weigh "whether the doctrine of absolute presidential immunity includes immunity from criminal prosecution for a President's official acts."

The filing suggested that Trump could not be prosecuted because he had already faced an impeachment trial in the Senate.

"This appeal presents momentous, historic questions," the filing stated. "That does not entail, however, that the Court should take the case before the lower courts complete their review. Every jurisdictional and prudential consideration calls for this Court to allow the appeal to proceed first in the D.C. Circuit."