Former New Jersey Superior Court Judge Andrew Napolitano told Newsmax on Friday that he doesn't think the U.S. Supreme Court will hear former President Donald Trump's appeal on immunity.
Likewise, Napolitano believes the federal appeals court, in a decision likely to come Friday or Monday, will also shoot down Trump's immunity claims.
"I think the federal appeals court will affirm the trial judge," Napolitano said on "Wake Up America."
Trump appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, challenging U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan's ruling on Dec. 1 that he can be prosecuted for trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.
Working against Trump is that immunity is given for official acts as president, not for efforts "that he does to further his reelection," Napolitano said. "That's pretty much the law of the land before this case was even filed against him."
Napolitano said that whenever the decision comes, the trial will resume and will not pause again to wait for a Supreme Court decision. Napolitano is certain that Trump will appeal to SCOTUS, but he doesn't think the high court will hear it.
"I think they will let the trial go forward and see what the outcome is," Napolitano said. "If at the trial, the jury decides that what his behavior was on January 6th was in furtherance of his office as president of the United States, he can still get immunity from that jury.
"So his lawyers would still be free to make that argument before the jury."
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Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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