With an increasing number of federal cases being brought against Donald Trump, both members of Congress and the former president’s legal team are urging the highest court in the nation to get involved.
Democratic members of Congress have written to the Judicial Conference of the United States, a body comprising 18 federal judges overseen by Chief Justice John Roberts of the Supreme Court. Their letter requests the conference’s intervention to allow televised coverage of Trump’s recent case concerning his alleged involvement in the riot that erupted at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, following his defeat in the 2020 election, as reported by Newsweek.
The letter states, “As the governing body for the federal courts, the Judicial Conference has traditionally advocated for increased transparency and public access to the courts’ proceedings. Given the unprecedented nature of the charges presented in these cases, it’s hard to conceive of a more compelling situation for televised trials.”
They emphasize that for the public to fully comprehend the outcomes, it’s crucial for them to witness the trials directly, observing the trial procedures, the strength of evidence presented, and the credibility of witnesses.
On the other hand, Trump is seeking the Supreme Court’s intervention for a different purpose: he wants the trials to be prevented entirely.
Trump has strongly criticized the criminal charges against him, which now include two new federal charges consisting of obstruction and conspiracy counts. He frames these allegations as a weak attempt by President Joe Biden to undermine his potential 2024 campaign. Trump aims to secure support from the conservative majority on the court, a majority he played a role in shaping.
Expressing his viewpoint, he wrote, “CRAZY! My political opponent has unleashed a slew of feeble lawsuits, including D.A., A.G., and others, which demand significant amounts of my time & money to address. Resources that could have been used for Ads and Rallies will now have to be spent battling these Radical Left opponents across various courts in the Country.”
“I am leading in all Polls, including against Crooked Joe, but this is not a fair playing field. It amounts to Election Interference, and the Supreme Court needs to step in. MAGA!” he added.
Recent campaign finance reports reveal that Trump’s campaign is facing substantial financial strain due to the rising legal battles against him. He is grappling with 78 criminal charges across three jurisdictions, spanning from obstruction of justice to falsification of business records and retaining national defense data.
The Supreme Court has already been approached to intervene in a Trump-related case. In October of the previous year, Senator Lindsey Graham requested the court’s intervention after a lower federal court ordered him to testify before a special grand jury in Georgia. This jury was investigating whether Trump had illicitly pressured state election officials to overturn the election outcome, potentially leading to further charges.
Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas temporarily granted Graham’s request.
Regarding the Georgia case, CNN legal analyst Elie Honig made a noteworthy prediction during a network segment. Honig criticized Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis for mixing politics with her prosecution of Trump for allegedly interfering in the state’s electoral processes following his 2020 defeat to Joe Biden.
While acknowledging Willis’s impressive prosecutorial history, Honig cautioned that her intertwining of her political aspirations with the case might lead to repercussions working against her.