SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – Attorney General Sean D. Reyes joined an amicus brief to the Supreme Court of the United States of America in Trump v. United States. The brief, which was led by the State of Alabama, asks the Court to reverse the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s ruling about presidential immunity in the case brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
The case concerns whether former President Donald J. Trump is entitled to presidential immunity regarding the alleged actions that are the subject of the case. Both the district and appeals courts ruled against the president’s claims of immunity, leading to the appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The former president argues that “from 1789 to 2023, no former, or current, President faced criminal charges for his official acts.” The trial in the case is on hold pending the outcome of the appeal.
In their brief, the coalition of attorneys general argue that the U.S. Supreme Court’s “immunity jurisprudence must remain sensitive to the danger of vexatious and partisan prosecutions” and that “the prosecutions of President Trump appear to be partisan.”
The states write, “Unfortunately, the concern that partisans may abuse the justice system is not limited to this case and this prosecutor. There are criminal and civil actions against President Trump around the country, in some cases led by individuals who campaigned on promises to target President Trump. They taunt him and gloat to fawning media. They launch sprawling investigations and scour state codes with one man in mind.”
Joining Utah and Alabama were the States of Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, and West Virginia.
