'Jack Smith has a winner': Ex-Trump lawyer predicts appeals court will 'knock down' immunity claim

Former President Trump's claim of absolute immunity from criminal prosecution will fall flat in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, according to one of the ex-president's former White House lawyers.

In a CNN interview on Tuesday, James Schultz, who was associate White House counsel to the 45th president of the United States in 2017, not only predicted the nation's second-highest court will "very swiftly" strike down Trump's immunity claim, but that the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) would likely use the DC Circuit's ruling to guide its own decision.

"So, Jack Smith has a winner on this one, right?" Schultz said. "And it's common knowledge in the legal community, DC Circuit Court is kind of the warm up act for the Supreme Court. A lot of Supreme Court justices have come from the DC Circuit."

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"This is the right tribunal to be hearing it," Schultz added. "And I think they're going to knock down this immunity claim, you know, very swiftly."

Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith previously asked SCOTUS to expedite its decision on the immunity decision in December, but the Court declined and instead punted to the DC Circuit. A panel consisting of two justices appointed by President Joe Biden and one appointed by former President George H.W. Bush will meet next week to consider the question.

If the panel rules against Trump, he can then appeal that decision to the full DC Circuit. If the circuit upholds the appellate panel's decision, the former president's final option would be SCOTUS, though it isn't guaranteed that the Court would issue a writ of certiorari agreeing to take the case. If SCOTUS declines, that means whatever the DC Circuit decides would be the final ruling.

US District Judge Tanya Chutkan — who is overseeing Trump's scheduled March 4 trial on alleged election interference — initially rejected Trump's claims of immunity, though she paused all proceedings in that case pending a final decision on the immunity question.

READ MORE: 'Too many ways for Trump to slow the appeals': Experts weigh in on SCOTUS denying Jack Smith motion