If Trump has an ace up his sleeve and can notch a win in the nation's highest court, multiple cases could be done for.
Former federal prosecutor Elie Honig, appearing on CNN's "The Lead" with Jake Tapper, spelled out how Trump's chances for victories should the Supreme Court take up special counsel Jack Smith's request and rule in his favor on whether the 45th president is immune from criminal prosecution for the spate of crimes he's alleged to have committed while serving as commander in chief.
"If Trump is to win, obviously Jack Smith's federal elections cases out the window," Honig said. "I also think Fani Willis' case is doomed.
Yes, it's a state level case, but the principles of immunity would apply."
On Monday, Smith hopscotched the appellate court to go straight to the nation's highest court to weigh in on whether or not Trump can be held accountable for the alleged crimes.
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Honig called Smith's extraordinary move a time-saving must-do.
"I think it's a smart and necessary move, because as a practical matter this is the only real way that Jack Smith can hold onto his current trial date, which is March 4, 2024," he said. "Here's where we are: Jack Smith has won this case in the district court, ordinarily Trump would get to appeal to the Court of Appeals in the D.C. Circuit and that could take even a couple of months.
The loss could have been reheard and dragged on "another several weeks, maybe months" before it reached the Supreme Court's docket.
So Smith figured out a way to essentially "skip the middleman and take it right to the Supreme Court" — a move that Honig says gives Smith the "only chance of keeping this case on track".
Trump is defending himself against 91 felony counts plotted in two state courts and two different federal districts.
If he's found guilty in any of those, he could face jail time. He’s also dealing with a civil suit in New York that could force drastic changes to his business empire, including closing down its operations in his home state, plus a separate defamation case.
Honig noted that should Trump prevail in the Supreme Court, certain cases will stick, such as the hush money case where Trump stands accused of paying off porn star Stormy Daniels to win her silence in New York City.
So too will the federal Mar-a-Lago classified document hoarding case in Florida.
But a victory would essentially deliver Trump certain win in D.C. Jan. 6 election subversion case and also in the Fulton County, Georgia case where he is charged of committing a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.
"But if he wins here, I think two of the four cases are out the window," he said.
