'Very rare' step in Trump’s SCOTUS ruling would mean bad news for ex-president: expert

Any day now, the U.S. Supreme Court could arrive at a decision as to whether Donald Trump's claim of absolute immunity is legitimate. And according to a University of Texas law professor, the Court could take the "very rare" step of releasing a ruling on the matter without waiting for a dissenting opinion.

As Newsweek points out, some have speculated that SCOTUS will uphold a previous U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that rejected Trump's claims of immunity. Professor Steve Vladeck thinks that if the Court decides Trump is not immune, it could release that decision even if a dissenting opinion isn't written yet.

"It's rare, but it's not unheard of," Vladeck wrote in a post to X.

Responding to his post, legal analyst Lisa Rubin agreed, saying, "If there are five justices ready to deny Donald Trump a stay, they can decide his motion without waiting for the dissenters to finish their work, especially if any are dragging their feet."

In previous comments to Newsweek, Harvard Law professor emeritus Laurence Tribe said he doesn't think the Court will rule in Trump's favor, but added that there's a "substantial chance that it will go along with his attempt to drag this out long enough to escape trial until after this November's election."

In comments to CNN, former federal prosecutor Randall Eliason said the longer the Court goes without a ruling increases the chance it will rule against Trump.

"I think that's the most likely reason," Eliason told CNN. "Someone is writing a dissent."