Immunity brief aims to shield Trump case from SCOTUS ruling

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

51% : She set two more deadlines, ordering Smith to reply by Nov. 21, and Trump to reply again by Dec. 5.
50% : Chutkan now must balance Smith's refined legal case with a 180-page opposition brief she ordered Trump to file by Nov. 7.
45% : In his new brief, Smith argues he can prove at trial that Trump was acting in his personal capacity as a political candidate.
45% : Trump, after all, could order his new Justice Department to drop Smith's charges entirely if he wins.
43% : "That framing is an important distinction by Smith, as he attempts to shield four criminal charges brought against Trump in a recent superseding indictment from the high court's ruling that such a prosecution cannot infringe on the office of the presidency.Smith asserts he has a mountain of evidence a jury could consider -- even if U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, or eventually the justices, find certain alleged conduct cuts too closely to his duties of the president.
40% : Whether Trump faces a jury -- at earliest in 2026 -- is likely entirely dependent on the results of the looming Nov. 5 election.
39% : Unless there is any evidence of Trump mixing his efforts to pressure the officials with conversations about something within his official purview -- federal funding for highways, for example -- there would be no reason to deem the acts as official.
19% : But Smith argues that the overwhelming majority of Trump's comments were personal or clearly made as a political candidate -- including those in which he spurred violence at the Capitol riot after Pence refused to hand Trump the election.
16% : Smith, however, argued that the conversations -- in which Trump tried to pressure Pence to certify a false slate of electors on Jan. 6, 2021 -- centered on Pence's role as president of the Senate during the certification, a process Trump would have no role in.

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