Trump's Jan. 6 defense now rests on 'long shot' Supreme Court gambit: Ex-prosecutor

Former President Donald Trump suffered a setback as his bid to throw out civil suits brought against him by Capitol Police and members of Congress for the January 6 attack were rejected by an appeals court Friday.

Now, his only chance at ducking those trials rests on a "long shot" gambit in the Supreme Court, according to former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, who weighed in on Friday's edition of MSNBC's "Deadline: White House."

"Everyone's eye is not so much on this case, but on the criminal case in Washington, D.C., because the allegations in that case revolve around what the former president did in his last days in office," said Weissmann, who previously worked on the Mueller investigation of Russia, on MSNBC.

He said the decision that the civil cases can move forward has a strong knock on effect to the criminal case Trump is also facing in D.C. over Jan. 6. It says, basically, that his claim that he's immune because he was president at the time is dead on arrival, Weissmann said.

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"His, really, remaining shot for presidential immunity is the Supreme Court, and that seems like a really long shot in this case."

He went on, "I think that Judge Chutkan, quite rightly, was waiting to see if this decision would come down and provide guidance, because she is a district court judge in the same circuit so that she is going to be bound by any decision that comes from the circuit."

"... I would think that we could expect a decision next week," Weissmann added.

"The presidential immunity decision in her case is the one that will certainly go to the circuit, and it may go to the Supreme Court, and if there's one thing that could derail the March 4th date that she said is set in stone, it's that appeal process. So, she is going to have every incentive to really get her decision out, but obviously, she's going to digest the work today of the circuit court in the civil case."

Watch the video below or at the link here.

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