I’ll hold off on “sinister” for now. But it’s certainly suspicious at best.
I’m talking about the motives and timing of the Supreme Court’s decision to take up Trump’s appeal of two lower courts’ rulings that former presidents do not have immunity from prosecution for crimes they may have committed while in office.
First the claim is preposterous on its face. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals made that clear in no uncertain terms in its unanimous decision that required no further elaboration or consideration. Nothing in our Constitution or laws supports the concept of this kind of immunity. I’m not going to waste any time or space here stating the legally and logically obvious.
SCOTUS’s immediate and proper response to Trump’s appeal should have been “pass.” But if the court—for reasons of historical appearances and to exhaust a high-profile defendant’s right to “due process—decided that it needed to put this matter to bed once and for all, it should not have taken two weeks to announce that decision. And now they’re not going to hear the case for another seven weeks?
“Sinister”? Perhaps not, giving the Robed Ones the benefit of the doubt. But certainly suspicious, and a decision that as a practical matter enhances Trump’s ability to “run out the clock” before the November election, and could deprive voters of the right to make informed decisions as to whether they wish to elect a convicted felon to the nation’s highest office.
A reasonable person could infer that the Court’s machinations in this instance were politically motivated. No one—reasonable or otherwise—can deny their political impact. It’s a bad look that also fails the “smell test,” and it has already further eroded public trust in the Court’s claims to political neutrality and legal objectivity.
This could have been avoided. If the High Court wanted to ensure that it took up Trump’s appeal, it could have done so months ago, when Special Counsel Jack Smith asked SCOTUS to by-pass the 7th Circuit and fast-track a final decision.
My best guess is that SCOTUS will deny Trump’s appeal. His case is just too absurd, even for the Court’s Wing of Absurdity.
But critical time was wasted at a time in which we don’t have time to waste.
That serves neither the law, nor the public interest, nor American democracy.
That is, assuming the justices can at least unanimously agree that preserving American democracy is a good thing.
And that is where this whole thing gets scary.
