Special Counsel Jack Smith added a Supreme Court whisperer to outplay Trump's immunity gamesmanship.
Michael Dreeben is Smith's ace and is already being credited for helping the lead prosecutor execute the rare, gambit move to hopscotch the appeals court and take the 45th president's immunity argument straight to the nation's highest court.
"...Dreeben has most certainly already foreseen the practical effect of Trump continuing to insist presidents deserve king-like absolute immunity," according to Vanity Fair's legal affairs writer Christian Farias.
He sees Dreeben, who served as a longtime Justice Department official and boasts as Solicitor General more than 100 oral arguments before the Supreme Court under his belt for both Democratic and Republican administrations, as a "thorn in Trump’s side."
His resume and reputation are well-regarded.
Dreeben not only was a focal member of Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation but also became known as “the biggest brain in criminal law in the country.”
Trump has argued that he’s immune from prosecution in the federal election subversion criminal case in D.C.
Earlier this month U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected Donald Trump's immunity arguments.
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"Whatever immunities a sitting President may enjoy, the United States has only one Chief Executive at a time, and that position does not confer a lifelong 'get-out-of-jail-free' pass," she wrote in a scathing opinion. "Former Presidents enjoy no special conditions on their federal criminal liability."
Farias credits Dreeben for being "someone who can think several steps ahead" and the proof is already manifesting with the Court's swiftness in responding to Smith's petition.
The justices moved in light-speed fashion to confirm their willingness to consider deciding whether or not Trump is immune in the federal election interference case.
As Farias puts it, Smith has urged the Supreme Court determine quickly a central question: "Can a president stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue, shoot someone dead, and be immune from criminal prosecution because the shooting occurred while he was president?"
Trump's legal team is on the clock to file a response to the petition by Dec. 20.
