The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday declined to urgently rule on whether Donald Trump was protected by presidential immunity when he tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election, a major windfall for the billionaire who hopes to delay the start of a trial in the case. , AFP reports, News.ro reports.

The billionaire, who is running in the elections at the end of 2024, is to be tried from March 4 for the pressure he exerted in the presidential elections in 2020.

His lawyers, who are trying to delay the start of the trial so that it does not coincide with the election calendar, argue that Trump enjoyed “absolute immunity” for his actions while in the White House.

They believe that for this reason he should not be tried.

Judge Tanya Chatkan, who will hear the federal trial of Donald Trump, rejected the first request for immunity in early December, ruling that no text protects the former president from prosecution.

Donald Trump’s lawyers appealed the decision and asked the Court of Appeals to decide the matter.

This additional stage, which will begin on January 9, may last several weeks and lead to a delay in the trial of the former head of state.

In mid-December, federal prosecutor Jack Smith took the case to the United States Supreme Court, asking it to rule directly on the issue without waiting for an appeals court ruling.

On Friday, the Supreme Court, whose conservative majority was rebuilt by Donald Trump, refused to do so.

Similar attempts to invoke Donald Trump’s presidential immunity have been rejected by magistrates, but the “temple” of American law has never directly said whether the former head of state enjoys immunity from criminal prosecution.

Case law is murky, and Donald Trump has become the first former president of the United States to face criminal charges.

The Republican billionaire is preparing for an extraordinary 2024 in all respects, which will be punctuated by machinations in the courts and on election platforms.