'Gift to Trump': Supreme Court watcher slams justices' failure to make decision

With another day of Supreme Court decisions that ended with inaction on the two major cases involving former President Donald Trump's criminal trial in D.C., judicial analyst Jeffrey Toobin took to X to slam the justices' delay — and warn that they are rapidly closing the window of opportunity to let special counsel Jack Smith try his case before the election in November.

"The Supreme Court's ongoing delay in deciding the immunity case is a gift to Trump, regardless of the ultimate result," wrote Toobin. "The Justices are taking so long that it may well be impossible to try the case before November, even if they rule that the case can proceed."

Smith has charged Trump with conspiracy for his involvement in the attempts to overturn the 2020 election result. That case is on hold until the Supreme Court decides multiple major questions surrounding it.

He is also bringing another case in Florida regarding Trump's retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, but District Judge Aileen Cannon, herself a Trump appointee, has controversially suspended a trial indefinitely until a number of pretrial motions are resolved.

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One of the Supreme Court cases in question is a direct appeal from Trump to have them declare he has immunity, as a former president, from prosecution for anything he did in his official capacity.

While it is considered unlikely the justices would declare the entire case invalid on a presidential immunity basis, they could possibly rule that lower courts need to decide what is and isn't an official act and throw out charges or evidence based on that distinction, a complication that could drag out the trial to past the election.

The other case involves a January 6 Capitol riot defendant, Joseph Fischer, who is arguing that obstruction charges should not apply to his conduct. While this case doesn't involve Trump directly, a ruling that invalidates Fischer's charges could also potentially apply to some of the charges Smith brought against Trump.