


Former President Donald Trump does not plan to appear at the U.S. Supreme Court as the justices hear arguments on whether he can be removed from state ballots over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments Thursday on the matter after Colorado’s highest court found Trump ineligible to appear on its presidential primary ballot. The decision marked the first time a court had used Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to block a presidential candidate from running for office.
Though Trump has blasted that decision and a similar move by Maine’s secretary of state, he isn’t likely to repeat the disruptive behavior seen during the E. Jean Carroll defamation trial and at a civil fraud case over his business practices, CNN reported Tuesday. The former president voluntarily sat in court during the two cases but regularly berated the judges, attacked the proceedings and even stormed out during closing arguments presented by the attorneys for Carroll, a writer who accused Trump of raping her in 1996.

A jury ultimately awarded $83.3 million in damages in the Carroll trial. Her attorneys linked the mammoth verdict with Trump’s behavior, saying he helped them make their arguments.
“I think that it sort of helped the jury to not just believe what we were telling them… but see the way this guy just believes he is not bound by any laws,” Shawn Crowley, one of Carroll’s attorneys, told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow last month.
Oral arguments before the Supreme Court are traditionally attended only by an attorney for each side who can answer questions about the case and highlight main points.
CNN, citing people familiar with the president’s plans, reported that Trump is worried the three Supreme Court justices he nominated (Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett) may be inclined to go harder on him to avoid any perceptions of bias. His campaign is also reportedly worried that his antics in previous cases could hurt him in a critical matter related to his pursuit of a second term in the White House.
Instead, Trump plans to be at his Florida private club, Mar-a-Lago, as arguments begin Thursday before heading to Nevada to celebrate the results of the state’s caucuses.
“Right now, the priority is securing the nomination and being in Nevada,” a Trump campaign adviser told CNN.