Donald Trump asks Supreme Court to put off hearing case on immunity claim

Former US President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged the Supreme Court to reject federal prosecutors' request to immediately review his claim that he cannot be prosecuted for trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat, The New York Times reported.

Trump's brief said the question should be "resolved in a cautious, deliberative manner, not at breakneck speed." He urged the justices not to "rush".

As per The New York Times, the request appeared to be part of Trump's general strategy of trying to delay the trial in the case, which is scheduled to start on March 4. That date, Trump's lawyers wrote, "has no talismanic significance."

Last week, the special counsel, Jack Smith, asked the Supreme Court to bypass a federal appeals court and agree to hear the immunity question on a quick schedule. Trump opposed that request on Wednesday, saying the importance of the matter warranted careful and unhurried deliberation by the appeals court before the justices decide whether to take it up.

As per Trump's brief, Smith's desire for expedited treatment was driven by political considerations.

"He confuses the 'public interest' with the manifest partisan interest in ensuring that President Trump will be subjected to a monthslong criminal trial at the height of a presidential campaign where he is the leading candidate and the only serious opponent of the current administration," the brief said, as per The New York Times.

"The combination of an almost three-year wait to bring this case and the special counsel's current demand for an extraordinary expedition, supported by the vaguest of justifications, creates a compelling inference of partisan motivation."

The Supreme Court is likely to decide whether to hear the case in short order. If it does, it could hear arguments in January and issue a decision in the following weeks. If it turns away the case for now, the appeals court will consider the question, after which the losing side is almost certain to return to the Supreme Court, as per The New York Times.