Friday, immediately upon the news that the Supreme Court announced its decision to decline to expedite a ruling on former President Donald Trump’s immunity claim in the special counsel Jack Smith probe, Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley downplayed the possibility of a March trial date.
According to Turley, Smith gave up a likely favorable venue with the D.C. Circuit in his attempt to expedite the process.
“[H]e was willing to give up what many assumed would be a favorable decision in order to maximize a favorable calendar,” Turley said. “Now, what happens now is not going to work as planned for Jack Smith. Once they hear this case in January, they have to write the opinion. They’ll do that as quickly as possible. Trump people can do an appeal en banc, which is to ask the court as a whole to look at this question before they appeal to the Supreme Court. That will take time, and then if they en banc accept the case, then he’ll never see a March trial. So then the Trump people can apply to the Supreme Court. So there’s a lot of runway now between him and that March date that he’s got to be able to cross.”
“And the odds are he’s not going to be able to stick the landing,” he continued. “He’s going to lose that March date. Keep in mind everything has been frozen in D.C. There’s a lot of work that still has to be done for the trial. So as soon as all of this is done, it’s got to go back to the court, and they’ve got to decide what they have time for in terms of that trial. So the odds if you are going to Vegas right now are not on Jack Smith for a March trial.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
