Former President Donald Trump’s legal team asked the Supreme Court to find that presidents are immune from prosecution for their actions in office amid criminal charges over his role in the Jan. 6 riot. The appeal to the nation’s highest court came after a Washington D.C. district judge and federal appeals panel ruled that Trump can face trial over election interference.
But two weeks later, the Supreme Court has yet to make a decision. Former U.S. federal judge Nancy Gertner, who presided over the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, said the reasoning for the delay is unclear. But she believes that it’s due to disagreement among the nine justices.
"If it were unanimous in one direction, it could have been done quickly," Gertner told Boston Public Radio on Monday. "If it is not unanimous in one direction, but if there's any kind of a split, then either there's time so that the arguments of the splitters — of the dissenters — can be embodied in the majority, or someone is writing a dissent."
Gertner believes the former president is looking at the Supreme Court as a "better forum" for him to get the decision he's been denied twice in D.C. Some experts think conservative-leaning Supreme Court judges like Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito could align with Trump on this case.
Though Gertner said she cannot predict Thomas and Alito's actions, she speculates a dissent from either would be more broadly examining "where the law should go" rather than solely looking at the case.
"The immunity question is a yes-or-no question. The reasoning might be more complicated, but my gut instinct here — and based on only what we've seen so far — is they're really waiting to see what Alito and Thomas will say," Gertner said.
