'I don't see it': Trump lawyer admits Supreme Court won't step in to save ex-president
With former President Donald Trump convicted on 34 felony charges in New York, some of his allies — among them House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) — are calling for the Supreme Court to "step in" and throw it out.
But even former Trump attorney William Brennan, speaking in a panel on CNN Friday evening, is skeptical that will happen.
"What would that actually entail?" anchor Wolf Blitzer asked, posing the first question to former federal prosecutor Elie Honig.
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"So the Supreme Court can't and won't quote, 'step in,'" said Honig. "Now at this point, if we are to get to the Supreme Court, we are several steps away from that, and it's not certain they would take it. So let's just walk through, real quickly, the structure here. Donald Trump was just convicted in the New York State trial court, which may be somewhat confusingly is called the New York Supreme Court. That's the bottom layer you see here, he has an automatic right to appeal to the middle layer, the New York Appellate Division. If he loses there, he can then ask the top court in the state of New York, which is called the New York Court of Appeals, to take the case. They don't have to. When he's done with his New York appeals, then he can ask, and only then can he ask, the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case, and they don't have to take any case either. It's up to them. They take a very small minority, mid to low single-digits of all cases presented to them."
The upshot, he said, is that "maybe it ends up at the Supreme Court, but we are a long way away from that."
Brennan concurred with that assessment.
"I think Elie's [explanation is] right on point and unlike other cases the former president is facing, January 6-related issues, of presidential documents and classified documents, immunity issues, which are all ripe for federal review, this is a New York state Class E felony, about records keeping. I mean, it's the lowest — it's really a misdemeanor on steroids, but it is in fact a felony. This is a matter that is going to be resolved inside the state of New York. And I don't see a compelling federal issue that would interest the U.S. Supreme Court into granting certiorari. I just — I don't see it."
Watch the video below or at the link right here.
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