A group of conservative policy organizations are urging House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to not reauthorize the controversial surveillance program Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and are pushing the Republican leader to oppose including reforms in any upcoming must-pass legislative vehicles such as a continuing resolution or omnibus package.

In a letter to Johnson sent Thursday, Americans for Prosperity (AFP), FreedomWorks, Taxpayers Protection Alliance and Conservative Partnership Institute said ‘it is critical that Congress does not attempt to force a reauthorization of this authority into a must-pass legislative vehicle, and once and for all finally have a standalone vote on this topic.’

‘A standalone vote on Section 702 ensures focused scrutiny and accountability, safeguarding Americans’ privacy and maintaining the country’s national security. Shoving it into a must-pass continuing resolution avoids a transparent and open process on how to reform a deeply flawed program,’ AFP’s senior policy analyst James Czerniawski told Fox News Digital. 

Earlier this month, the House Rules Committee was set to vote on the measure to renew Section 702 of FISA, which would have advanced it to the House floor for a possible vote later in the week, but Johnson pushed that vote. 

In the letter, the groups slammed the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) for allegedly negotiating in ‘bad faith’ after it and the House Judiciary Committee ‘agreed to a floor process the week of Feb. 12th to consider a base reauthorization bill, but with the opportunity for both committees to offer amendments, the contours of which were understood by both parties.’

The letter also claims that on the eve of the Rules Committee hearing, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, R-Ohio, ‘inexplicably released a cryptic Dear Colleague claiming a serious and urgent threat to national security requiring review by Members of the House in a classified setting.’

That warning, reportedly, was the intelligence related to Russian nuclear capabilities in space which could threaten satellites, including potentially knocking out U.S. military communications and reconnaissance.

On Feb. 13, HPSCI voted 23-1 to make information about a destabilizing foreign military capability available to Members of Congress. 

Turner and Ranking Member Jim Himes, D-Conn., issued a bipartisan notification — what’s known as ‘a Dear Colleague letter’ — urging their colleagues to review this classified information in the secured room on Feb. 13. The language of the Dear Colleague letter was cleared by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

On Feb. 14, reports of the Dear Colleague letter surfaced, which prompted Turner to issue a statement around 11:30 a.m. about a ‘serious national security threat.’ 

In an interview with ‘Meet the Press,’ Turner emphasized that he believed that the Biden administration was sleepwalking its way into an international crisis. 

The letter criticized Turner’s disclosure, adding that ‘both the White House and Senate Intelligence Committee have made statements suggesting serious concerns regarding the risk of disclosure of sources and methods because of Chairman Turner’s Dear Colleague and subsequent press release.’

The groups asserted that ‘the reauthorization of Section 702 has been top of mind for Members of Congress for over a year now and HPSCI’s sole focus and engagement on this issue during this time is evident. It is highly suspect that as the House was on the verge of considering a vehicle for reauthorization, rather than helping to facilitate a carefully negotiated floor process for considering a powerful surveillance tool, HPSCI instead spent its efforts on a non-urgent matter and in the process may ultimately have jeopardized national security.’

But a spokesperson for HPSCI told Fox News Digital that Turner ‘does not play politics with national security.’ 

Section 702 of FISA has been both credited with preventing terror attacks on U.S. soil and accused of being a vehicle for spying on U.S. citizens.

It lets the government keep tabs on specific foreign nationals outside the country without first obtaining a warrant to do so, even if the party on the other side of those communications is an American on U.S. soil. 

Turner has also advocated for FISA reforms and put forth his own reforms.  

But the groups told Johnson in its letter Thursday that while the genesis of HPSCI was originally intended to rein in and provide oversight of an unaccountable Intelligence Community found to be violating Americans’ rights, they claim it has ‘unfortunately morphed into merely a rubber stamp’ of Intelligence Community activities, ‘unwilling to even have a debate on how to hold the Intelligence Community accountable for their rampant and repeated abuses of the Section 702 authority.’

It is critical that Congress does not attempt to force a reauthorization of this authority into a must-pass legislative vehicle, and once and for all finally have a standalone vote on this topic. We stand ready to work with Congress to advance a solution that accomplishes the security and Americans’ civil liberties,’ they said. 

The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted review of former president Trump’s claims of presidential immunity in the election interference case brought by special counsel Jack Smith, which throws into question at least the timeline for a possible trial in an election in which Trump is the likely GOP nominee. 

While some legal experts question the likelihood of success in Trump’s arguments, they say that the high court’s review sets back Smith’s timeline to start a trial before an election and begs the question whether Attorney General Merrick Garland would — or should — approve going to trial just before the general election in November. 

Jonathan Turley, a practicing criminal defense attorney and professor at George Washington University, says ‘the runway for Jack Smith just got a lot shorter.’

‘I think that most people still believe that Smith can prevail before the Supreme Court. But the most immediate impact is that the runway for Jack Smith just got a lot shorter,’ Turley said in an interview with Fox News Digital. 

Smith’s ‘primary fight for the last few months has been to secure a trial before the election,’ Turley said, adding that if the trial is after the election, ‘there might not be a trial.’ 

Turley said that, should a decision come down from the Supreme Court as late as June, between a ‘host’ of pre-trial motions and other procedural elements at the district court level — even if the district court were as ‘motivated’ as Smith to get a trial scheduled before the election — the earliest a trial could start is the fall.

Turley noted the Department of Justice has a longstanding practice of avoiding any prosecutorial action that could be perceived as political within a certain time frame before the election. 

A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment. 

The Justice Manual states, ‘Federal prosecutors and agents may never select the timing of any action, including investigative steps, criminal charges, or statements, for the purpose of affecting any election, or for the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party.

‘Such a purpose is inconsistent with the Department’s mission and with the Principles of Federal Prosecution.’ 

While the DOJ can make timing requests of the court, it’s ultimately up to a judge to set the court’s calendar. 

‘The attorney general has a responsibility to maintain consistent application of departmental policy. This has nothing to do with the merits. Merrick Garland has been hands-off, has granted Smith almost total discretion as to the prosecution of the case. The timing of the case raises questions that remain within the attorney general’s purview, in my view,’ Turley said. 

John Shu, a constitutional law expert who served in both the George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush administrations, said all the Biden campaign and the Democrats need is for one of Trump’s trials to start before the general election. 

‘If that happens, the news coverage will be ‘all Trump trial all the time,’ especially if it’s televised, and no one is going to be talking about the economy, illegal immigration, wars in Israel and Ukraine, Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan or super-high crime, gas prices, food prices and inflation,’ Shu said. ‘It’ll be worse than the O.J. Simpson trial.

‘The way Jack Smith has been acting, it indicates that he has been keeping his eye on the electoral calendar.’ 

‘This is all the more reason for the DOJ, in keeping with long-standing department policy in administrations from both parties, to delay trial if the date falls within two or three months before the presidential election,’ Shu added.

On the merits of the case before the nine justices, Turley said, ‘Trump will have a difficult time securing a majority in favor of the totality of his argument that Trump has offered a sweeping claim of immunity and is likely to produce a level of sticker shock for the justices.’

But, Turley said, ‘the justices may have a similar reaction to the lower court’s opinion that some justices may be uncomfortable with — the lack of a clear line of when immunity will protect a president.’ 

‘The interesting aspect of this is that many of us expected that many of the justices would have wanted this cup to pass from their lips. If they had simply denied review, they would not establish any precedent on presidential immunity,’ Turley said. 

‘The court has not been keen on delineating the lines of presidential immunity. The opinions that they have issued have had a certain room at the elbows in terms of the use of this protection.

‘So, this will force the court to set down some precedent. It’s very likely that some of the justices would like to see greater acknowledgment of immunity for the president, for a future president.’

Jim Trusty, former legal counsel for Trump and a former federal prosecutor, said ‘the Trump team argument that he has absolute unqualified immunity while he’s in office is not a winner.’

‘But I do think that there’s a strong possibility that the court confirms that immunity protects the president, acting even in the furthest reaches of his responsibilities. That could well be enough to win the day on both Jan. 6 and Mar-a-Lago classified documents cases,’ Trusty said.

The Justice Department declined to comment. 

A top House Republican lawmaker is preparing a legislative maneuver that could bring Ukraine aid to the House floor for a vote if Republicans can’t come to agreement among themselves on the funding.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, said that he was deploying the strategy as a ‘fail-safe’ in the event a Republican consensus is elusive.

‘This is a fail-safe in the case that the conference can’t come to a consensus for language on the floor,’ Fitzpatrick told Fox News Digital Thursday evening.

Traditionally, House leadership controls which bills get put up for a vote. The maneuver, a discharge petition, would force a vote with the support of a simple House majority.

The strategy would allow Johnson to avoid potentially having to roll his caucus by moving the bill to the floor with Republicans in disagreement with each other. Instead, the discharge petition would force Johnson’s hand and allow a vote in which Democrats might join Republicans to approve the assistance.

‘We recognize the tough political situation our speaker is in. We’re just trying to figure out an additional option, an escape patch,’ Fitzpatrick said. ‘We are 100% working with him and his team to try to get this bill to the floor.’

Fitzpatrick told reporters earlier Thursday that lives were at stake.

‘It’s existential, it’s time-sensitive. Whether it’s our [bill] or somebody else’s, we’ve just got to get the money out the door,’ Fitzpatrick said. 

Before a discharge petition can be activated, however, the measure must sit in the House Rules Committee – where legislation traditionally is voted on before it gets to the floor – untouched for seven days.

‘All this is doing is adding a pressure point on something that’s very time-sensitive to at least have a backstop in place. So, if nobody can come to a conclusion as to what to put on the floor, if somebody’s afraid to put something on the floor, then we’re ready to go,’ Fitzpatrick told Fox News Digital earlier in the day.

He led a bipartisan bill earlier this month aimed at providing roughly $66 billion in military-only aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, which would also institute strict border measures like the Trump administration’s ‘Remain In Mexico’ policy.

The bill was introduced after a larger $118 billion border policy and foreign aid package failed in the Senate amid Republican protests that it did not go far enough to solve the migrant crisis.

Since then, lawmakers in both the House and Senate have urged Johnson to hold a vote on some form of Ukraine aid, citing Kyiv’s recent losses in the war against Russia amid a shortage of ammunition and personnel. They have argued that helping Ukraine defeat Russian President Vladimir Putin now would prevent a wider European conflict – one that could possibly involve the U.S. in a direct conflict with Moscow.

Johnson has not provided much clarity on his strategy for dealing with Ukraine. He is under immense pressure from his right flank to withhold any bills related to Ukraine aid, with a significant portion of the GOP calling for the U.S. to not get involved.

It would be a major step for one of Johnson’s fellow Republicans to sideline him on a high-level item like Ukraine, but it could also afford him an opportunity to escape GOP hardliners’ wrath.

Fitzpatrick said he has not discussed the discharge petition with Johnson.

Fox News Digital asked Fitzpatrick whether the measure is also aimed at giving Johnson some wiggle room with GOP Ukraine aid critics. The Pennsylvania Republican smiled and nodded, saying, ‘Your words, not mine.’

With the current makeup of the House, Fitzpatrick would need 217 lawmakers to sign onto his discharge petition in order for it to make it to the floor. 

Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., whose district has a significant Ukrainian population, expressed hope that House negotiators are ‘getting closer to an agreement’ and would not have to take ‘extraordinary’ measures.

‘We continue to stand with them to provide lethal support, but also the appropriate oversight, and hopefully we can get to an agreement that does that and secures our border. I think the speaker understands that there is significant interest in getting such a deal done,’ Molinaro said.

House Freedom Caucus Policy Chair Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, was pessimistic about the move.

‘I think the speaker is inclined to want to put Ukraine on the floor anyway,’ Roy said. ‘So, discharge petition or not, what’s going to happen is, we’re going to bust the [spending] caps, we’re going to spend more money, we’re not going to secure the border. Ukraine is going to get funded. And the American people are going to be wondering what the hell the difference is between the two parties.’

Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson’s office for comment. Calls were not returned at press time. 

More than 100 people were reported dead and hundreds more wounded after Palestinians rushing toward trucks loaded with humanitarian aid encountered fire in Gaza City early Thursday, according to local media reports. 

The exact circumstances surrounding the deaths remain unclear; while several reports suggested Israeli troops fired on the crowd as they descended upon the trucks, the Israeli military suggested that most who died were trampled.

Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra said at least 104 people were killed and around 760 were wounded, describing the incident as a ‘massacre.’

‘Early this morning, during the entry of humanitarian aid trucks into the northern Gaza Strip, Gazan residents surrounded the trucks, and looted the supplies being delivered,’ Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement. ‘During the incident, dozens of Gazans were injured as a result of pushing and trampling. The incident is under review.’

The IDF suggested that fewer than 10 civilians were injured by Israeli forces opening fire during the delivery of humanitarian aid, and that most deaths and injuries came from the stampede.

It released aerial footage of hundreds of people swarming and climbing onto trucks during the incident.

The deadly incident took place at al-Nabusi roundabout west of Gaza City in the northern part of the enclave, Gaza Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra said.

Fares Afana, the head of the ambulance service at the Kamal Adwan Hospital, said medics arriving at the scene found ‘dozens or hundreds’ lying on the ground. He said there were not enough ambulances to collect all the dead and wounded and that some were being brought to hospitals on donkey carts.

Dr Hussam Abu Safia, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, said emergency personnel are struggling to cope with the influx of patients. 

‘Most of our patients are in critical condition, which requires urgent surgical intervention, but we have no operating rooms,’ Abu Safia told Al Jazeera.

‘I stand helpless. We are simply administering first-aid treatment only.’

Hamas says it holds Israel, President Biden and his administration ‘fully responsible’ for the incident and for the ‘ethnic cleansing’ of its people. The group called for worldwide demonstrations against Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. 

‘We have mercy on the souls of our people’s martyrs, and we affirm that their sacrifices and blood will not be in vain and that we will remain loyal to our cause, our land, and our sanctities,’ the group posted to Telegram.

Gaza City and the rest of northern Gaza were the first targets of Israel’s air, sea and ground offensive launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in which militants crossed the border from Gaza and massacred some 1,200 people. The area has suffered widespread devastation and has been largely isolated from the rest of the territory for months, with little aid entering.

The Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll from the war has climbed to 30,035, with another 70,457 wounded. It does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its figures but says women and children make up around two-thirds of those killed.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Speaker Mike Johnson bucked the House GOP’s right flank to pass a short-term federal funding bill on Thursday, setting up Congress to avoid a partial government shutdown.

The bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), extends fiscal 2023’s government funding levels to two deadlines: March 8 and March 22. It passed the House, 320-99.

Majorities in both parties voted for the bill, although more Democrats than Republicans supported it – 113 GOP lawmakers voted for the CR while 97 voted against, and 207 Democrats voted for it versus just two who were opposed. In a modest win for Johnson, however, this CR got more GOP votes than the extension he put on the House floor in January, which got 107 Republicans’ support.

Congress is currently operating under a CR passed in January that extended funding for some of its 12 appropriations bills to March 1 and others to March 8.

House GOP leaders were forced to seek Democrat votes, which were likely anyway, to pass the bill. They fast-tracked it under suspension of the rules, meaning it forgoes the normal process of going through the House Rules Committee and a House-wide procedural vote in exchange for raising the threshold for passage to two-thirds instead of a simple majority.

It comes after GOP rebels weaponized procedural House votes several times to deliberately sink their own party’s legislation as a protest against leadership.

Many of those same rebels have pushed Johnson to allow for the government to shut down instead of extending the previous Democrat-controlled Congress’ funding levels. They argued that a shutdown, even a partial one, would give House Republicans leverage to push for conservative policies.

With expected furloughs of federal employees and suspension of government programs, however, a government shutdown is a politically perilous outcome for both Republicans and Democrats.

This is the fourth CR the House has passed since fiscal 2023 ended on Sept. 30.

‘We have to be willing to do what’s difficult to save America. I’m not scared of a government shutdown if it’s the price we need to pay to secure our border, get our debt under control and stop the government from going after my fellow Americans,’ said Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., a member of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus.

But Johnson said during his weekly press conference that it would buy negotiators just enough time to release legislative text for their first six spending bills over the weekend while avoiding the negative effects of a partial shutdown.

‘All of our members will have 72 hours to review it. That’s our commitment. That’s our rule. We’re respecting it. And that’s the only reason we need the process CR, to allow us time to do that,’ Johnson said.

‘If I did it the way … [former House] Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi did, we just drop that bill and vote on it within hours. We’re not going to do that.’

The CR must now pass the Senate and be signed by President Biden to avoid a partial shutdown at midnight on Friday.

Former President Trump is demanding that President Biden take a cognitive exam to prove his mental capacity for re-election.

Trump made the remarks on Thursday via his proprietary social media platform, Truth Social.

‘Crooked Joe Biden must take a Cognitive Test. Maybe that way we would be able to find out why he makes such terrible decisions,’ Trump wrote. ‘I took two of them, and ACED them both (no mistakes!).’

‘All Presidents, or people wanting to become President, should mandatorily take this test!’ the former president added.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday defended President Biden not taking a cognitive test as part of his physical exam, arguing that the demands of the job prove he does not need one. 

‘If you look at what a clinical cognitive test is – actually what it does – it is a 15-minute appointment that is administered by someone who, most of the time, people don’t actually know,’ Jean-Pierre said. 

A reporter asked why a cognitive test was not included in the president’s physical exam this week, given the recent scrutiny he has received over major gaffes that raised questions about his mental fitness. 

Jean-Pierre said Biden’s doctor felt it was unnecessary and added that ‘folks need to understand that the president passes a cognitive test every day.’ 

‘You think about the job growth, you think about the record small business action, you think about the bloom in that particular space of 16 million more small businesses have been created. You think about delivering historic investment that has been done by a president who has to deal with these issues every day, again, on a granular level and so his doctor, including the neurologist, do not believe that he needs one,’ Jean-Pierre said. 

In a release from Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the president’s physician, Biden was declared fit to ‘successfully execute the duties of the presidency.’

‘President Biden is a healthy, active 81-year-old male, who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency, to include those as Chief Executive, Head of State and Commander in Chief,’ the release said.

Fox News Digital’s Bradford Betz contributed to this report.

House Republicans are preparing to unveil what they call the ‘strongest’ anti-Chinese government bill in U.S. history Thursday.

If passed, it would dramatically curtail trade with China in areas critical to national security, including telecommunications, pharmaceuticals and military technology.

On the cultural front, the bill would establish avenues for the promotion of U.S.-backed ideals and points critical of Beijing’s ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) within China’s own borders.

Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman Kevin Hern, R-Okla., is leading the proposal, the Countering Communist China Act, which is being promoted by his 175-member group.

‘We must treat the CCP like the threat they are and use every tool at our disposal to combat their influence in our schools and our government,’ Hern told Fox News Digital.

‘This bill targets the CCP in a comprehensive and vigorous way, putting American safety and economic security first. It’s the strongest legislation against the CCP ever introduced to Congress, and for good reason.’

Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., RSC’s National Security and Foreign Policy Task Force chairman, told Fox News Digital, ‘The CCP dictatorship in China run by Xi Jinping threatens global security, endangers our allies and is destroying the future of the people of China.’

The bill would restrict outbound investments in Chinese technology companies, while also placing trade restrictions on Beijing-backed companies dealing with military tech and surveillance.

It would also call for expanded U.S. production in supply chains dealing with medicine and critical minerals, both of which are heavily dominated by China.

The bill would not fully sever U.S.-China trade, however. Trade in sectors unrelated to national security, such as agricultural goods and toys, is not covered by the proposed restrictions.

Hern’s comprehensive legislation is also aimed at addressing the fentanyl crisis by levying sanctions on Chinese officials and entities linked to the international flow of the lethal drug into the U.S. It also calls for empowering U.S. citizens to sue Chinese government officials after the fentanyl death of a loved one.

Amid the restrictions, the bill also seeks to promote pro-democracy viewpoints to both people in China and the Chinese-speaking diaspora. 

A summary of the bill obtained by Fox News Digital called for the formation of ‘new Mandarin Chinese language social media accounts, radio stations, videos, etc. to amplify the voices of Chinese people as they highlight CCP human rights abuses, and fight for democracy.’

It would be a significant initiative given China’s crackdown on information within its borders, including internet restrictions on content critical of the CCP.

U.S.-China relations, especially on trade, have suffered from rising geopolitical tensions. They primarily stem from Beijing’s aggression in the South China Sea, both countries’ relationship with Taiwan and longstanding allegations of intellectual property theft by CCP-backed entities.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday defended President Biden not taking a cognitive test as part of his physical exam, arguing that the demands of the job proved he didn’t need one. 

A reporter had asked why a cognitive test wasn’t included in the president’s physical exam, given the recent scrutiny he has received over major gaffes that raised questions about his mental fitness. 

‘Why not just have his doctor administer the test and then case closed?’ the reporter asked. 

Jean-Pierre said Biden’s doctor felt it was unnecessary, and added that ‘folks need to understand that the president passes a cognitive test every day.’ 

‘If you look at what a clinical cognitive test is – actually what it does – it is a 15-minute appointment that is administered by someone who, most of the time, people don’t actually know,’ Jean-Pierre said. 

She added that the president’s duties, on a daily basis, are more rigorous than that 15-minute clinical appointment. 

‘You think about the job growth, you think about the record small business action, you think about the bloom in that particular space of 16 million more small businesses have been created. You think about delivering historic investment that has been done by a president who has to deal with these issues every day, again, on a granular level and so his doctor, including the neurologist, do not believe that he needs one,’ Jean-Pierre said. 

Results of Biden’s physical examination, released later Wednesday, declared the president to be a ‘healthy, robust, 81-year-old.’ 

In a release from Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the Physician for the President, Biden was declared fit to ‘successfully execute the duties of the presidency.’

‘President Biden is a healthy, active 81-year-old male, who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency, to include those as Chief Executive, Head of State and Commander in Chief,’ the release said.

Recent polling has found that Biden’s age is a major issue for a majority of not only Americans in general, but also Democrat voters. 

A recent poll from ABC/Ipsos found that 86% of Americans believe Biden is too old to serve another term, including 73% of Democrats.

Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report. 

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review whether former President Donald Trump has immunity from prosecution in the Special Counsel’s federal election interference case, an election-year dispute that will have blockbuster legal and political implications for the nation.

The justices have fast-tracked the appeal, and will hear oral arguments in late April, with a ruling on the merits expected by late June. Trump’s criminal trial has been put on hold pending resolution of the matter.

Arguments will begin the week of April 22. 

This will be the second time this term the High Court will hear a case involving the presumed Republican presidential nominee. Separate arguments were held earlier this month over whether Trump can be kicked off the Colorado primary ballot over claims he committed ‘insurrection’ in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots.

The high court was considering an emergency appeal filed by Trump to extend the delay in the trial stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s 2020 election interference case, arguing that he has presidential immunity to protect him from prosecution.

That request came just days after a D.C. appeals court ruled the former president and 2024 GOP front-runner is not immune from prosecution in Smith’s case.

The request was for temporary relief, to stay or block the appeals court mandate from taking effect, which would give the Trump legal team more time to file an appeal to the Supreme Court on the merits of whether a former president deserves immunity from criminal prosecution for actions while in office.

Smith, days later, requested that the U.S. Supreme Court reject Trump’s bid to delay his trial. 

Though the special counsel’s filing does not explicitly mention the upcoming November election or Trump’s status as the Republican primary front-runner, prosecutors described the case as having ‘unique national importance’ and said that ‘delay in the resolution of these charges threatens to frustrate the public interest in a speedy and fair verdict.’

The trial stemming from Smith’s case against Trump has been on hold pending resolution of the immunity question.

‘If the prosecution of a President is upheld, such prosecutions will recur and become increasingly common, ushering in destructive cycles of recrimination,’ the Trump request stated. ‘Criminal prosecution, with its greater stigma and more severe penalties, imposes a far greater ‘personal vulnerability’ on the President than any civil penalty.’

The request added, ‘The threat of future criminal prosecution by a politically opposed Administration will overshadow every future President’s official acts — especially the most politically controversial decisions.’

The request states that the president’s ‘political opponents will seek to influence and control his or her decisions via effective extortion or blackmail with the threat, explicit or implicit, of indictment by a future, hostile Administration, for acts that do not warrant any such prosecution.’

‘This threat will hang like a millstone around every future President’s neck, distorting Presidential decision-making, undermining the President’s independence, and clouding the President’s ability ‘to deal fearlessly and impartially with’ the duties of his office.” 

Trump’s lawyers added, ‘Without immunity from criminal prosecution, the Presidency as we know it will cease to exist.’ 

The decision comes after Washington, D.C., federal Judge Tanya Chutkan officially delayed the trial, which was set to begin on Monday — a day before the critical Super Tuesday primary contests, when Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Vermont vote to select a GOP nominee.

Chutkan said in December that she does not have jurisdiction over the matter while it is pending before the Supreme Court, and she put a pause on the case against the Republican 2024 front-runner until the high court determines its involvement.

Smith charged the former president with conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights. Those charges stemmed from Smith’s investigation into whether Trump was involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and any alleged interference in the 2020 election result.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges in August.