Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Sunday criticized the Supreme Court’s decision last week to take up former President Trump’s immunity appeal because it delays the start of the former president’s federal Jan. 6 trial.
“Their delay in considering this critical issue, this timely issue, is going to delay the resolution of these cases, by months at least,” Durbin said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“I think that was a disappointment. I think the court has acted quickly in the past when they realized that the presidential timetable was at risk. And I’m really concerned with what they’ve done,” he added.
The Supreme Court announced last week that it would consider weighing arguments on whether Trump can be criminally prosecuted for his efforts to overturn his 2020 reelection loss. Trump and his legal team have argued that he is protected from being criminally prosecuted for action he took while still serving as president.
The Supreme Court’s decision to take up the case will likely delay the start of the trial until summer or beyond. The trial was initially scheduled to star March 4, but Trump’s appeals claims have delayed the start of the trial.
When asked if he would have liked to see special counsel Jack Smith bring the election interference case against Trump sooner, Durbin said he would not “second-guess” his decision to do that.
“I don’t know all the circumstances, and of course when you prepare a case of this gravity, and this magnitude, you want to make certain that you’re doing the right thing and that you have all the evidence [that’s] necessary,” he said.
“I can’t second-guess U.S. Department of Justice on that. But it’s certainly an issue that should be resolved before the election and this decision by the court makes it more difficult,” he added.