Missouri+lawyers+aid+Trump+in+immunity+case – Missouri Lawyers Media
Scott Lauck//December 21, 2023//
Missouri lawyers aid Trump in immunity case
Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, in Durham, N.H. (AP Photo/Reba Saldanha, File)
Scott Lauck//December 21, 2023//
Three attorneys from Missouri are part of the legal team arguing that Donald Trump cannot be prosecuted for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
D. John Sauer, Will Scharf and Michael E. Talent of the James Otis Law Group in St. Louis filed a brief on Dec. 20 in the U.S. Supreme Court opposing Special Counsel Jack Smith’s efforts to have the high court review the case.
Trump had argued in federal court for the District of Columbia that his efforts to have Congress certify him, rather than Joe Biden, as the winner of the 2020 election were official presidential acts for which he enjoys absolute immunity. He also argued that the criminal prosecution constitutes double jeopardy, as he was impeached by the House for his actions but acquitted by the Senate.
Judge Tanya Chutkan denied the motion, prompting Trump’s lawyers to turn to the U.S. Court of Appeals for District of Columbia Circuit. But Smith has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve the immunity issue immediately.
Sauer and his team, along with lawyers from Lauro & Singer in Florida and Blanche Law in New York, argue that Smith cannot appeal a district court decision that he didn’t lose. They also argue that the normal appellate process should be allowed to play out, given the novelty of the issue.
“The question stands among the most complex, intricate, and momentous issues that this Court will be called on to decide,” they wrote.
The Supreme Court put the case on an expedited briefing schedule. It’s not yet clear if the court will accept the case for arguments.
Sauer, who didn’t respond to an email seeking comment, served as Missouri’s solicitor general under former Attorneys General Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt and was briefly Deputy Attorney General for Special Litigation under current Attorney General Andrew Bailey.
Scharf, who is seeking to challenge Bailey for the Republican nomination next year, is a former assistant U.S. attorney. He previously was nominations counsel for the Office of Legal Policy during the confirmations of U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett and worked in the administration of former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens.
Talent is the state’s former deputy solicitor general and the son of former U.S. Sen. Jim Talent.
The case is United States v. Trump, 23-624.
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