Welcome back, Deadline: Legal Newsletter readers. After being found guilty on all 34 felony counts in New York last week, Donald Trump got better news this week in his other three criminal cases, as the Supreme Court’s latest opinion day passed without a ruling on his immunity claim that’s holding up the federal election interference case.
Trump’s Georgia case was officially paused Wednesday, further cementing the reality that he won’t be tried in the Peach State (or anywhere else besides New York) before the presidential election. The stay order from the state appeals court followed that court’s setting an October hearing in the defense attempt to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. A pre-election trial against the presumptive GOP nominee was already unlikely in the state election interference case. Now, the bigger question is whether Willis and her office can stay on it, but we probably won’t know the answer this year.
The classified documents case is in similar territory, in that it likely won’t be tried this year and the bigger question is the fate of the case itself. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon made her latest weird docket moves that favor Trump, setting up unnecessary hearings on unnecessary issues involving unnecessary outside parties later this month, while pushing off deciding matters that would let a Florida trial happen.
Meanwhile, the other federal case went nowhere this week, as Thursday’s Supreme Court opinion day passed without a ruling on Trump’s immunity appeal in Washington. The justices issued three opinions Thursday: on taxes, tribal-run health care programs and a bankruptcy ruling that was notable for the fact that Justice Samuel Alito was recused. He didn’t explain why, but he clearly knows how to step aside when he deems it appropriate, shining a brighter light on his failure to do so in the Jan. 6-related cases.
Speaking of Alito, his already weak justification for declining to recuse further unraveled. The neighbor at the center of the dispute that Alito claimed led his wife — not him! — to fly an upside-down flag after Jan. 6, 2021, called the justice’s explanation into question. Even if his narrative were accurate, it wouldn’t cure the appearance of impropriety from his sitting on these cases. But open questions remain about his story that at least call for public hearings to clear up the matter.
Justice Clarence Thomas should also be recused from these cases. But unlike Alito, he hasn’t even attempted to explain why he’s staying on. Thomas did recuse from a 2020 election-related petition from John Eastman at the beginning of the term — a decision that he didn’t explain then, either, so his rationale isn’t on record to compare to his choice to stay on these cases.
Thomas did acknowledge that he should’ve disclosed trips he received from billionaire Harlan Crow. The amendment came in the justices’ annual financial disclosures, which were released the same week that watchdog Fix the Court reported on decades of gifts to the justices — most of them, totaling millions of dollars, went to Thomas.
The justices are next set to hand down opinions Thursday, as we head into June’s second week with a thick stack of crucial decisions remaining. The court typically wraps up its rulings by the end of June, but that’s more of a custom than a hard rule. Could we see the immunity ruling this coming week? As it turns out, next Friday is Flag Day. How will Alito — sorry, his wife — celebrate?
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