Trump Wants To Use Supreme Court Win In Election Case To Stop Classified Documents Case

Trump is trying to use a recent Supreme Court victory in an election-related case to influence or stop the legal proceedings against him regarding classified documents. He's leveraging one legal win to potentially impact another ongoing case.

Donald Trump argues that the Supreme Court's ruling, granting him immunity from prosecution for his actions as president, should pause his criminal case in Florida for several months.

Trump's legal team filed a request on Friday with Judge Aileen Cannon. They want to use the Supreme Court's immunity ruling to delay his criminal cases. Trump is asking to discuss the immunity issue with Cannon before early September, pausing all other proceedings for two months.

Trump claims that moving classified documents to his Florida home as he left the presidency should be considered an "official act."

 He believes this act should be excluded from special counsel Jack Smith's case, which accuses him of hoarding national security secrets at Mar-a-Lago. Trump now argues that the Supreme Court's ruling requires pausing the case until the immunity issue is resolved.

Trump is trying to use the Supreme Court's decision to impact his ongoing cases in Florida, Washington, D.C., and Georgia, which involve his actions in his last months as president. The ruling has already disrupted plans for New York state judge Juan Merchan to sentence Trump for his 34-count conviction related to concealing evidence of his alleged 2006 affair with Stormy Daniels. Although that case focused on Trump's private actions, some evidence came from his first two years as president, which Trump argues should be off-limits.

In his Friday filing, Trump referenced President Biden's July 1 remarks criticizing the Supreme Court's immunity ruling. This was Biden's most direct comment on Trump's criminal charges brought by the special counsel. Trump's attorneys, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, wrote that Biden's comment links the special counsel's actions to Biden's misuse of the criminal justice system to influence voters before the election.

Trump's team asked Judge Cannon to consider Justice Clarence Thomas' opinion in the immunity ruling. Thomas questioned the constitutionality of Special Counsel Smith's appointment.

Cannon has been reviewing Trump's challenge to Smith's constitutionality for weeks, including recent hearings. While Thomas' opinion didn't have support from other justices, it might influence the judge appointed by Trump to rule against Smith.