The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to issue an expedited ruling on a lawsuit seeking to block President Donald Trump from claiming immunity from criminal prosecution while in office.
The case had been filed by Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. In it, he argued that allowing Trump to claim such immunity jeopardizes his ability to investigate and prosecute possible criminal activity by the Trump family businesses. Nonetheless, the court sided with Trump, ruling 6-3 in July that the President could not be subjected to the Manhattan prosecutors’ grand jury investigation while in office.
The Supreme Court’s decision not to expedite a ruling on Vance’s appeal of that decision means that the case is likely to remain unresolved until after the November election. A full trial on the merits of the case may be held in 2021.
As a result, Trump’s critics are concerned that if Trump wins re-election, he could potentially avoid investigation and prosecution by using his presidential immunity.
