Special Counsel Jack Smith has requested that the Supreme Court render a speedy decision on the question of whether or not former President Trump is immune to prosecution in the case. Smith asked the Court to intervene swiftly as Trump’s trial is currently scheduled for March.

Special counsel Jack Smith on Monday asked the Supreme Court to immediately step in to decide whether former President Donald Trump has immunity from prosecution for his actions seeking to overturn the 2020 election.

“This case presents a fundamental question at the heart of our democracy: whether a former President is absolutely immune from federal prosecution for crimes committed while in office,” Smith wrote in the court filing.

Smith said it was “of imperative public importance” that the high court decide the question so that Trump’s trial, currently scheduled for March, can move forward as quickly as possible.

The Supreme Court isn’t required to take any particular case and usually doesn’t take on cases that haven’t been ruled on by lower courts but in this case the Court has already responded, asking Trump’s team to submit a response in just over a week.

On Monday evening, just hours after Mr. Smith filed papers in the Supreme Court, the justices granted his initial request: to put their consideration of whether to hear the case on a fast track. The court ordered Mr. Trump’s lawyers to file their response to the petition seeking review on an abbreviated schedule, by Dec. 20.

NBC News notes there is one precedent for a request like this.

There is precedent for such an outcome, with Smith citing the 1974 U.S. v. Nixon case, in which the court ruled on an expedited basis that President Richard Nixon had to hand over tape recordings sought during the Watergate scandal probe. Nixon resigned soon after the ruling.

If the Justices agree to take the case, they could hear oral arguments early next year and potentially issue a decision that would make it possible for Smith to keep his March court date. And that’s really what all of this is about. It’s an effort to control the timing.

Trump’s legal team has made the case in court that he is immune from prosecution. The trial judge ruled against him on that and Trump appealed. Jack Smith understands that this appeal can be dragged out for months, potentially delaying a trial until after the 2024 election.

Mr. Trump appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He also asked Judge Chutkan to freeze the election interference case in its entirety until the appeal was resolved.

Winning the appeal of the immunity decision was only one of Mr. Trump’s goals in challenging Judge Chutkan’s ruling. All along, he and his lawyers have had an alterative strategy: to delay the trial for as long as possible.

If the trial were put off until after the election and Mr. Trump were to win, he could have his attorney general simply dismiss the charges. Holding a trial after the presidential race was over would also mean that voters would not get to hear any of the evidence that prosecutors have collected about Mr. Trump’s expansive efforts to reverse the results of the last election before weighing in on whether to elect him again in 2024.

So that’s the basic argument here. Smith wants to move things forward quickly so the trial happens not only before the election but well before the election. He doesn’t want the trial itself to take place in October. On the other hand, Trump is saying there’s no rush.

Trump described Smith’s petition on Monday as a “Hail Mary” attempt to “bypass the appellate process.”

“There is absolutely no reason to rush this sham to trial except to injure President Trump and tens of millions of his supporters,” Trump’s campaign said in an unsigned statement.

So what’s your guess? Does the Court decide this on an expedited basis and if so which way do they rule? Is it a 5-4 decision or do they decide this one has to be unanimous or close to it given how significant this could be? I honestly don’t know. The court’s swift response today makes clear they plan to considering Smith’s request. My guess, and that’s all it is, is that if they do take it up, it’s likely to rule that that Trump is not immune. If the majority believes he is immune (or might be) maybe they’ll just let the appeals process play out no matter what that does to Smith’s trial date.