US court to hear Trump executive privilege case

The US Court of Appeals is expected to hear ex-President Donald Trump’s case of executive privilege against prosecution today.

Trump’s appeal stems from the ongoing case against him alleging that he was guilty of election subversion in 2020. His trial is currently scheduled for March 4. Trump’s legal team will plead their case to the Appeals Court after Special Counsel Jack Smith asked the Supreme Court to make a ruling on the claim that President Trump was and is immune from prosecution of actions while president thanks to executive privilege. The Supreme court denied review last month. Either way the Appeals Court rules, its decision may have an impact on the expected start date for the trial in March. Executive privilege allows US Presidents to withhold communications from legislative and civilian judicial proceedings if deemed a threat to executive governmental function.

If the Appeals court were to rule in Trump’s favour, then we will see an enormous appeals process from Special Council Smith’s team to the Supreme Court. It would also gift Trump an enormous amount of legal leverage in his upcoming court cases. All of this is highly unlikely, however. So, expect the Appeals Court to rule against Mr Trump today, executive privilege will not be a strong enough argument whilst several courts, including the highest in the land, have ruled against this argument.