Politico just reported that the Supreme Court of the United States will hear the immunity issue, Donald J. Trump v. United States, during the week of April 22nd.
The timing of this is telling. Regarding the election charges that the Presidential immunity case will impact, in addition to a couple other lesser charges, President Trump is charged with 18 USC 1512(k) and 18 USC 1512(c)(2) as provided by the Congressional Research Service. The 1512 charges provide for potential 20-year sentences and are the heaviest (and entirely contrived) charges that the President faces.
The Supreme Court case Fischer v. United States is scheduled to be heard the prior week on April 16th to decide whether 1512 was improperly charged on January 6th protesters. The Supreme Court will undoubtedly strike down DOJ’s intentional misinterpretation of 1512, where the Department of Justice read a catch all provision outside of the context of the law itself. Any failure to do so would alter the way law is interpreted generally; the Court simply has no choice. The hearing on April 16th on Section 1512 will show the extent of misconduct within the DOJ even though the Court’s formal decision itself would come later after the immunity hearing.
Following the Fischer hearing, the Justices will likely have their weekly meeting somewhere between the two hearings and potentially other opportunities to connect and understand the playing field. If SCOTUS is on track to lambast the DOJ for the disgraceful exhibition of corruption regarding Section 1512, an anti-corruption law, then this would add weight to the importance of presidential immunity; and the Court’s decision to schedule the hearings in this order and closeness may reflect this.
Litigators often say “good facts make good law” – and the fact of the DOJ’s intentional and likely criminal act to persecute political enemies through intentional misreading of the law will help put in context the danger that former Presidents face from out of control prosecutors of the opposing party.
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