Trump decides not to take his civil immunity defeats to the Supreme Court — yet
Former President Donald Trump won't ask the Supreme Court to review the rulings that rejected his claim of immunity from civil January 6 proceedings — or at least, he won't for the time being, reported Politico.
"Trump elected not to ask the justices to reverse a federal appeals court ruling issued in December rejecting his claim that presidents have absolute immunity from being sued for actions taken while they are in office," reported Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein. "That means at least three lawsuits brought against him in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol can advance to the next phase — a period of limited evidence-gathering related to Trump’s activities on Jan. 6, 2021 and whether they were official or political in nature."
The lawsuits in question were brought by police officers who were injured in the January 6 attack, as well as members of Congress whose lives were threatened that day.
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However, this isn't necessarily the end of it, the report said. "Under an agreement with the plaintiffs in those cases, Trump had a Thursday deadline to halt the effect of the appeals court decision by filing an appeal with the Supreme Court. None was filed as of Thursday evening, and his aides indicated none was expected. But Trump’s allies say he is leaving the door open to reviving a challenge to the ruling later in the process. He could try another appeal after the next round of fact-finding is complete, and the trial judge issues another ruling on whether the cases can proceed."
All of this is separate from the ongoing dispute over whether Trump has immunity from criminal prosecution in the federal election subversion case brought by special counsel Jack Smith.
Trump is currently appealing his loss on that subject from the D.C. Court of Appeals to the Supreme Court, which has now taken briefings from both parties on the matter and could issue a decision at any time on whether to move ahead with review.