Supreme Court ‘Saving Room’ for Upcoming Donald Trump Case Appeals: Lawyer

The Supreme Court is leaving a gap in its schedule to deal with Trump-related challenges this term, a former prosecutor has said.

Those would include the former president’s election-fraud case in Washington, D.C., and challenges to the result of the 2024 election if Trump loses, Joyce Vance wrote.

Trump was indicted in Washington, D.C., on four counts of allegedly working to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the run-up to the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. He has pleaded not guilty and has said the case is part of a political witch hunt.

Reviewing the court’s upcoming cases in her legal blog, Civil Discourse, on Sunday, Vance wrote that there is clearly a gap in the Supreme Court’s schedule to allow for Trump appeals.

“The Court’s docket has been lighter than usual—they’re saving room. Even with the addition of fifteen cases late last week following the Court’s long conference, where it evaluated around 2,000 petitions and other motions, there is still room on the Court’s calendar for what they must know is coming,” Vance added.

Vance wrote she believes that potential Trump challenges include “round two of the presidential immunity appeal he hopes will prevent him from facing a jury in Washington, D.C.”

That is regarding Trump’s election-fraud case in Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court ruled on July 1 that the Republican presidential nominee had broad immunity from prosecution. As a result, prosecutor Jack Smith created an entirely new indictment and released his evidence against Trump on October 2.

Vance wrote she believes that, depending on how Washington, D.C., trial judge, Tanya Chutkan, deals with the new indictment, either side is likely to take a Supreme Court challenge.

Vance added that other potential Trump-related Supreme Court challenges include “an appeal from the Eleventh Circuit’s decision on Judge Cannon’s decision to dismiss the classified documents prosecution.”

That relates to Judge Aileen Cannon’s ruling in July, in which she dismissed all charges against Trump for hoarding presidential records in his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Newsweek sought email comment from Trump’s attorney and from Cannon’s office on Monday.

Cannon ruled that prosecutor Smith had been illegally appointed as special counsel in the case, which was therefore invalid. He is contesting her decision before a federal appeal court in Florida.

Trump was facing 40 federal charges in Cannon’s court over his alleged handling of sensitive materials seized from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, after leaving the White House in January 2021. He was also accused of obstructing efforts by federal authorities to retrieve them. The Republican presidential nominee had pleaded not guilty and has said that case was also part of a political witch hunt.

There are also “the inevitable post-election challenges Trump will bring if he loses” the presidential election, Vance wrote.