Trump Sees Immunity Fight as Path to Delay 2020 Criminal Trial
- US presidents are shielded from most lawsuits by the courts
- Trump lost immunity fight over Jan. 6 suits but is appealing
Donald Trump
Photographer: Al Drago/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Staring at a March 4 trial on 2020 election obstruction charges, Donald Trump’s legal team has one possible strategy to delay or avoid it altogether: Tee up a high-stakes presidential immunity fight for the US Supreme Court.
While the courts usually shield US presidents from most lawsuits, Trump already lost an immunity bid against civil litigation seeking to hold him liable for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. But his appeal of that ruling has been pending for more than a year, offering a template for how he might try to postpone his Washington criminal trial over efforts to reverse the 2020 election.