Jack Smith, the special counsel prosecuting former President Donald J. Trump on charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election, urged the Supreme Court on Wednesday to reject a request from Mr. Trump to put the case on hold while he pursues appeals.
“Delay in the resolution of these charges threatens to frustrate the public interest in a speedy and fair verdict — a compelling interest in every criminal case and one that has unique national importance here, as it involves federal criminal charges against a former president for alleged criminal efforts to overturn the results of the presidential election, including through the use of official power,” Mr. Smith wrote.
The question before the justices is preliminary: Should they pause an appeals court’s ruling rejecting Mr. Trump’s claim that he is absolutely immune from prosecution for things he did while president? The answer to that will determine whether trial proceedings may resume as the Supreme Court considers whether to hear a promised petition seeking review of the ruling itself.
The trial had been scheduled to start on March 4 but was deferred while the lower courts sorted out whether Mr. Trump has immunity. When a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled against Mr. Trump this month, it gave him a brief window to seek a stay from the Supreme Court.
Mr. Trump’s stay application, filed Monday, asked the justices to put the case on hold long enough to allow him to ask the full D.C. Circuit to rehear the case and then to appeal to the Supreme Court should he lose. Such requests to slow proceedings have been a central feature of Mr. Trump’s litigation strategy in fighting criminal cases against him around the country.
Any significant delays in the federal election-interference case could plunge the trial into the heart of the 2024 campaign season or push it past the election. If Mr. Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination, wins the presidency, he could order that the charges be dropped.