Government Responds to Trump’s Motion for Stay of the D.C. Circuit’s Immunity Ruling

On Feb. 14, the government submitted to the Supreme Court its response to former President Trump’s application for a stay of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s mandate rejecting Trump’s claim of absolute immunity in the Jan. 6 case against Trump. The Supreme Court on Feb. 13 gave the Justice Department one week to respond to Trump’s petition. 

In the response, the government argues that Trump cannot demonstrate “a fair prospect of success” in the Supreme Court, or “that the balance of equities or the public interest favors continued delay of the criminal proceedings.” The government contends that further delay of the trial “threatens to frustrate the public interest in a speedy and fair verdict,” which the Justice Department claims is particularly salient in the case against Trump. 

The government writes that to the extent the Court’s denial of the government’s petition for certiorari on the immunity question in December reflects the Court’s desire not to review the immunity issue, the Court should deny this petition too. But if, the government argues, the Supreme Court believes Trump’s claim deserves review, “the government respectfully requests that [the Court] treat the application as a petition for a writ of certiorari, grant the petition, and set the case for expedited briefing and argument.”

You can read the response here or below.