(CNN) — Former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney said Monday if the Supreme Court does not resolve the issue of presidential immunity “quickly and decisively,” it will have a “profoundly negative impact” on the country.
In a New York Times Op-Ed, Cheney argues that, “If delay prevents this Trump case from being tried this year, the public may never hear critical and historic evidence developed before the grand jury, and our system may never hold the man most responsible for Jan. 6 to account.”
Her message comes before the high court is set to hear arguments later this month in the blockbuster case over whether Trump may claim immunity from prosecution in the federal election subversion case.
Special counsel Jack Smith, who brought the criminal charges, has sought to speed up the proceedings over Trump’s immunity claim so that he can bring the matter to trial as quickly as possible.
Trump, however, has told the justices that if they were not willing to grant him full immunity from Smith’s election subversion prosecution, they should send the case back to lower courts for more proceedings – a move that would push off a trial for many months – to determine whether any partial theory of immunity would apply in his case.
The alternative route could afford the court’s conservative majority an “off-ramp” that would hamstring the special counsel without taking a blanket view of immunity for former presidents.
Cheney wrote that there is “historic testimony” about Trump’s conduct that is “likely to remain secret until the special counsel presents his case at trial.”
The Wyoming Republican added that the evidence should be presented in open court so that the public can “fully assess what Mr. Trump did on Jan. 6 and what a man capable of that type of depravity could do if again handed the awesome power of the presidency.”
“The Supreme Court should understand this reality and conclude without delay that no immunity applies here,” she said.
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