Rick Hasen and Dahlia Lithwick: “There are a lot of people who are devoting their time to crafting scenarios in which the court might still evince interest in saving itself and the possibility of preserving a functioning democracy after the election by expediting a decision in Trump’s immunity appeal. That’s their prerogative, and we fervently hope they are correct. But let’s be candid about the fact that the court has missed its last best chance to do so: A completed trial before Election Day seems highly unlikely. Rolling Stone reports that Trump’s lawyers literally popped Champagne when the Supreme Court’s scheduling order came out.”
“Even though Smith has now taken the view that the internal rule keeping the DOJ from bringing charges within 60 days of the election doesn’t apply to criminal cases that have already been instituted, it would be quite extraordinary for a court to make one of the two major political party candidates stand for trial in the middle of the general election season and even during the period of early voting (which begins weeks before Nov. 5, Election Day). Would a court even start a trial before Election Day that wouldn’t be finished until afterward? Such trials are rare.”
