As former President Donald Trump sat in court on Thursday as part of an ongoing trial brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a separate matter was being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court that could have major implications for another legal challenge he faces.
Federal charges related to Trump’s actions while still in office regarding the outcome of the 2020 election have stalled until the nation’s highest court weighs in on whether he should be protected from prosecution under the concept of presidential immunity.
For his part, the former president has long insisted that immunity is a key factor in allowing any commander-in-chief to make tough decisions without worrying about facing criminal charges upon leaving office.
BREAKING: As Supreme Court justices prepare to hear oral arguments shortly on whether a U.S. President should have absolute immunity for all their actions while in office, Trump says a President must have immunity lest we have a ceremonial one. WATCH pic.twitter.com/NrpKdasQC6
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) April 25, 2024
As the Supreme Court heard arguments in the case, he wanted to be there, but Judge Juan Merchan rejected the defense team’s request, thus forcing the presumptive GOP presidential nominee to remain in New York.
“Arguing before the Supreme Court is a big deal, and I can certainly appreciate why your client would want to be there,” the judge acknowledged. “But a trial in New York Supreme Court is also a big deal.”
The ruling did not stop Trump from expressing his unvarnished opinion of Merchan, however, which he did in a statement to Fox News.
“Because he thinks he is above the Supreme Court, he is prohibiting me from going to the presidential immunity hearing where some of the great legal scholars will be arguing the case — the most important case in many years on the Supreme Court,” Trump asserted.
He went on to assail the dubious merit of the charges against him, which stem from alleged hush money payments he made ahead of the 2016 election.
“Virtually every legal scholar and expert in the country said that this case should not have been brought, that there was no crime, that everything was done properly and that this is a case that should be dropped immediately,” he said. “It’s an embarrassment to Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrat Party who are duly standing behind it and the judge is totally conflicted — totally conflicted.”
