U.S. Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith has filed an argument disputing President Trump’s claim to presidential immunity amid his 2020 election interference case.
The brief was filed Saturday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The intent of the filing was to ask for the “review of the order of the district court (Chutkan, J.) denying his motions to dismiss based on Presidential immunity and principles of double jeopardy.”
“Immunity from criminal prosecution would be particularly dangerous where, as here, the former President is alleged to have engaged in criminal conduct aimed at overturning the results of [an] election,” Smith wrote in the filing.
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“A President who unlawfully seeks to retain power through criminal means unchecked by potential criminal prosecution could jeopardize both the Presidency itself and the very foundations of our democratic system of governance,” the special counsel added.
The document also accused Trump of “conspir[ing] to use knowingly false claims of election fraud with the goal of overturning the legitimate results of that election and disenfranchising millions of voters.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court should affirm the district court’s order denying the defendant’s motions to dismiss on Presidential immunity and double-jeopardy grounds,” the conclusion read. “For the reasons given in the Government’s motion to expedite appellate review, including the imperative public importance of a prompt resolution of this case, the Government respectfully requests the Court to issue the mandate five days after the entry of judgment.”
“Such an approach would appropriately require any party seeking further review to do so promptly,” the conclusion added.
The U.S. Supreme Court recently rejected Smith’s appeal to expedite their assessment of the immunity claim before it went fully through a federal appeals court. Trump’s legal team asked the court to deny Smith’s request.
“This appeal presents momentous, historic questions,” the brief said. “An erroneous denial of a claim of presidential immunity from criminal prosecution unquestionably warrants this Court’s review. The Special Counsel contends that ‘[i]t is of imperative public importance that respondent’s claims of immunity be resolved by this Court.'”
“That does not entail, however, that the Court should take the case before the lower courts complete their review,” the filing added. “Every jurisdictional and prudential consideration calls for this Court to allow the appeal to proceed first in the D.C. Court.”
Fox News Digital’s Lillian Le Croy and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
