Trump might 'win the war' but may 'lose the battle' in immunity case: former federal prosecutor
In late December, the US Supreme Court denied Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith's request to quickly review Donald Trump's "presidential immunity" claims against prosecution, suggesting the matter remain in lower courts for the time being.
Since then, a DC appeals court panel heard Trump lawyer's argument and left "skeptical" of his claims.
Legal experts Andrew Weissmann and Neil Katyal spoke with MSNBC's Jen Psaki Sunday about their thoughts on whether the Supreme Court could still end up taking on the MAGA hopeful's case.
POLL: Should Trump be allowed to hold office again?
"I don't know that the supreme court will take it up," Weissmann said. "I used to think it was clear they would, but the argument was so preposterous, this is really one where I think Trump is trying to win the war but may lose the battle. And what I mean by that, is this is all about delay rather than the merits of the case. So the thing I'm keeping my eye on is when the DC circuit rules against him, how much time do they give, and sort of limit, with respect to sending this back to Judge Chutkan, because I think that's the whole ball game, is how tight the leash will there be on that timeframe so that he can't play out the clock."
Psaki turned to Katyal, saying, "Neil, you have argued, you spent a lot of time in the supreme court, arguing cases, thinking about the supreme court. A lot of time. What is your thought on here and what could happen?"
He replied, "I don't think the supreme court is likely to hear at the case, Jen. I mean, Trump's claims are so unhinged — that the president can do whatever he wants and murder people with SEAL team 6 — this is crazy. The supreme court I don't think is going to have much appetite for this. So I'm looking for three things. I'm looking for the rationale of the court of appeals decision, the timing of the court of appeals decision, and then, technically, do they stay the mandate? Do they allow the March 4th trial date to proceed as is? I'm suspecting that they're going to do all of those things, and basically hue closely to what Judge Chutkan found already, which means that this trial can go forward. I think it's doubtful at this moment that the supreme court's gonna hear this case and stop the trial based on such a bogus theory."
Watch the video below or at this link.
READ MORE: George Conway shreds 'fallacious reasoning' of Trump’s 'immunity' claims
Trump might 'win the war' but may 'lose the battle' in immunity case: legal expertyoutu.be
