SC To Decide On Trump Immunity Plea

The Supreme Court (SC) agreed Wednesday to decide whether Donald Trump may claim immunity in special counsel Jack Smith's election subversion case, adding another explosive appeal from the defeated president to its docket and further delaying his federal trial, John Fritze reported for CNN.

The Supreme Court arguments could come while Trump is on trial in New York on criminal charges of falsifying business records as part of a cover-up to conceal hush money payments before the 2016 election.

The court expedited the case and will hear arguments the week of April 22.

The move puts the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination on track for another high-stakes date with the high court, which earlier this month heard arguments in a separate case questioning whether Trump disqualified himself from running for a second term under the 14th Amendment's "insurrection ban."

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court arguments could come while Trump is on trial in New York on criminal charges of falsifying business records as part of a cover-up to conceal hush money payments before the 2016 election.

The court had waited nearly two weeks to issue its ruling on how it would proceed, suggesting there was behind-the-scenes maneuvering, said Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at the University of Texas School of Law.

"The surprise is that it took the court the better part of two weeks to reach this result, from which no justice has publicly dissented," Vladeck said. "The justices couldn't reach consensus on a way to resolve the matter without giving it full briefing and argument," Hannah Rabinowitz and Devan Cole also reported for CNN.

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