Although Donald Trump’s lawyers may anticipate an adverse outcome from the Supreme Court regarding his claims of executive immunity, sources indicate that his inner circle has already accepted the likelihood of rejection. They view the case as a successful delaying tactic that has achieved their primary objective of pushing Trump’s election subversion trial past the upcoming Election Day.
Initially, Trump’s legal team had anticipated that the court maneuver would postpone the trial only to around the summer. However, the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority has effectively granted Trump a significant victory by agreeing to consider his immunity claims.
The former president’s lawyers have advanced two primary arguments: they have maintained that impeachment is the exclusive constitutional mechanism for addressing presidential misconduct, regardless of the timing of the prosecution. Additionally, they have attempted to extend principles of civil immunity for sitting presidents to criminal cases against Trump.
During oral arguments before the federal appeals court, judges expressed skepticism about the implications of Trump’s views on executive power. In response, Trump’s lawyer suggested that the president could not be prosecuted for ordering an assassination without first being impeached and convicted.
Despite the Supreme Court’s acceptance of Trump’s immunity claims, his inner circle remains confident that he has already achieved a victory by delaying his trial until after Election Day. They believe that the trial would have been politically damaging to Trump if it had proceeded during this election year, especially in light of his ongoing criminal hush-money trial in Manhattan.
