The Supreme Court's decision to review former President Donald Trump's claim of presidential immunity in the federal election conspiracy case threatens the chances of the trial being held before the presidential election.
But it doesn't entirely eliminate those chances, former acting solicitor general Neal Katyal told MSNBC's Ari Melber on Wednesday. There are some maneuvers that special counsel Jack Smith and District Judge Tanya Chutkan could take to lessen the impact of the delay.
"Please give us your thoughts on this big Supreme Court news tonight," said Melber, himself an attorney.
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"In general I'm such a believer in the United States Supreme Court in general as an institution," said Katyal. "And I have to say I'm gravely concerned about what has happened today. The idea that the U.S. Supreme Court could potentially delay this trial until after an election, when the American people deserve to know what Donald Trump did on January 6th and the different actions he took and how a jury of his peers decided, I'm very concerned that may not happen. What the Supreme Court did here — they could have expedited more, but to hear this case on April 22nd."
"I think now two things should be happening," said Katyal. "One is the court ... needs to hear from the American public about how the court needs to decide this case quickly after April 22nd. This is not a hard case, Ari ... Donald Trump's arguments here, I think the technical legal word is 'absurd,' and the court shouldn't take much time in deciding it. If they can decide it quickly by the first or second week of May, this trial can take place."
But additionally, he said, "Jack Smith should be going to the trial judge here and saying, look, I know you were going to give Donald Trump 88 days to prepare for trial, but now he's filed all of these delay motions, and he can certainly begin some of that preparation now. And so the judge could effectively announce a smaller amount of time than 88 days so that trial could happen. Indeed, I think for the judge to do that while the court is considering this case is a wise move. It'll tell the Supreme Court exactly what the time is."
Watch the video below or at the link.
Neal Katyal suggests how Jack Smith could beat SCOTUS delaywww.youtube.com
