Justice Department seeks Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity

Special counsel Jack Smith on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on whether presidential immunity protects former President Donald Trump from federal charges. Smith alleges that Trump sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Trump has denied doing anything wrong while contesting the integrity of election results. Smith is asking that the Supreme Court rule quickly on the matter, without waiting for appeals from lower courts. A judge has ruled the federal subversion charges can go forward to a trial, scheduled on March 4, but Trump had signaled that he would ask an appeals court to overturn that ruling.

What else is happening with Trump? The former president decided on Monday not to testify a second time in his civil fraud trial in New York. Last week, Trump applauded testimony from an accounting professor who said his bank statements bore no evidence of fraud. Judge Arthur Engoron has already ruled that Trump and other defendants at the Trump Organization company used fraudulent asset valuations in paperwork for business deals.

Dig deeper: Read Carolina Lumetta and Leo Briceno’s report in The Stew about the other top GOP presidential candidates’ latest debate.