Trump’s strategy to delay trial may be winning

USA: The Supreme Court’s decision not to rule quickly on whether Donald Trump can be prosecuted on election-subversion charges may help delay his trial, according to ex-prosecutors.

But they told the BBC this strategy of filing repeated challenges will only put off the inevitable and could even backfire on the former president in terms of timing for his White House campaign next year.

On Friday the justices declined to rule on whether Mr Trump has immunity from prosecution in the case, turning down special counsel Jack Smith’s request to take up the matter in an expedited manner.

The Supreme Court offered no explanation, saying only that Mr Smith’s petition “was denied”.

The special counsel’s office has not yet commented on the decision, which is seen as a major setback to his case against Mr Trump.

It is unclear, however, how long the trial might be delayed, or whether it might be pushed back beyond the 2024 election.

Mr Trump is currently the Republican frontrunner for a rematch against President Joe Biden next November.

The special counsel indicted the ex-president in August for allegedly conspiring to overturn the results of the last election in the lead-up to the US Capitol riot on 6 January 2021.