Trump's request to Florida court for halting classified docs case after immunity ruling stirs Internet

WASHINGTON, DC: Former President Donald Trump has asked for a temporary halt to the case involving classified documents in light of the US Supreme Court's ruling this week that found presidents have substantial immunity for official acts that took place while they were in office.

Attorneys representing Trump requested that all proceedings in the case initiated by Special Counsel Jack Smith be put on hold, except Smith's request for a gag order, until the judge has had a chance to apply the Supreme Court's immunity ruling to the particular facts of the case.

What did the court filing state?

"Consistent with President Trump’s pending motion to dismiss based on Presidential immunity, the Supreme Court explained in Trump that it would ‘eviscerate the immunity we have recognized’" if a prosecutor could "do indirectly what he cannot do directly — invite the jury to examine acts for which a President is immune from prosecution to nonetheless prove his liability on any charge," the Friday court filing stated, per Fox News. 

"Thus, ‘even when an indictment alleges only unofficial conduct,’ which is not the case here, prosecutors cannot ‘[u]se evidence' of official acts. Based on this reasoning, like the trial court in the Trump case, Your Honor must undertake the ‘necessarily factbound analysis’ regarding whether alleged conduct ‘is official or unofficial,’" it added.

Donald Trump referred to the filing as 'a really bad day for Deranged Jack Smith'

Donald Trump referred to the filing as "a really bad day for Deranged Jack Smith, the wacko prosecutor used for Crooked Joe Biden’s attack on his Political Opponent," in a Friday, July 5, post on Truth Social.

"Today, as in the past, the Supreme Court gave the Deranged One a high level SPANKING! His ‘real’ bosses, Andrew Weissmann and Lisa Monaco, not to mention Merrick Garland, whose once great reputation has been shattered by these Thugs, and his constant defense of Crooked Joe, must be furious at him," Trump wrote. "Garland ought to call an end to this never ending HOAX, and let people focus on bringing back Greatness to America!"

Donald Trump now has substantial immunity from prosecution

In the Donald Trump v United States case, the High Court decided on Monday that a former president is shielded from prosecution for official acts performed while in office, but not for unofficial ones.

The Court ruled 6-3 to return the case to a lower court, not applying the decision's holding to the question of whether Trump is exempt from prosecution for his involvement in efforts to void the 2020 election results.

Notwithstanding Smith's involvement in both prosecutions, the case the court heard was unrelated to the case involving the classified documents.

"The President enjoys no immunity for his unofficial acts, and not everything the President does is official," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority.

Donald Trump's lawyers challenged the legality of Jack Smith's special counsel appointment

Last month, Donald Trump's lawyers presented arguments over the legality of Jack Smith's appointment as special counsel and the limited gag order that prosecutors have requested to bar Trump from making comments that they say could endanger the safety of FBI agents and other law enforcement officials involved in the case.

The former president's right to free speech would be violated, according to Trump's attorneys. For procedural reasons, US District Judge Aileen Cannon first denied the prosecution's request, stating that Smith's team had not sufficiently consulted with defense attorneys before requesting the limitations. The request was then made again by the prosecutors.

On June 24, hours of arguments were presented to Judge Cannon by attorneys representing the parties. Emil Bove, a lawyer for Trump, claimed that by appointing special counsels to prosecute specific criminal cases, the Justice Department was running the risk of establishing a "shadow government."

Judge Aileen Cannon has not yet decided on Donald Trump's classified documents case delay request

Judge Aileen Cannon is anticipated to issue a formal order regarding the matter in the next few days, having not made a decision on Friday.

Trump is facing accusations as a result of Smith's probe into his alleged acquisition of secret documents.

In response to Smith's investigation, he entered a not-guilty plea to all 37 felony counts, which included making false statements, conspiring to obstruct justice, and willfully retaining information related to national defense.

In addition, Trump was charged with two more counts of obstruction and one more count of willful retention of information related to national defense as part of a superseding indictment resulting from the investigation.

Internet criticizes Donald Trump as he asks Florida court to pause classified documents case

Netizens lashed out at the former president after he asked the Florida court to halt the classified documents case.

One X (formerly Twitter) user wrote, "Sounds like the only reasonable thing to do."

Another added, "Because that's what innocent people do." 

"It feels like it’s been paused since the beginning," remarked one.

Someone else tweeted, "It's almost ridiculous how innocent he is.. Convicted Felon Donald J Trump, otherwise known as Project 2025.. is a Loser."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.