Justices on the Supreme Court voiced skepticism Thursday to assertions from former President Trump’s attorneys that presidential immunity could extend to an attempted coup or the assassination of a political rival, even as they seemed ready to offer some protections from criminal prosecution.

Such a ruling could create a new cycle of legal battles that in turn could delay Trump’s federal election subversion trial — and his other trials — past the election. 

The Supreme Court on Thursday appeared open to a middle-ground approach to a bid by former President Donald Trump to invoke presidential immunity to shake off his criminal charges.

The nine justices asked Trump’s attorney, D. John Sauer, pointed questions about whether presidents had “absolute immunity” from prosecution as they weighed Trump’s argument that he was protected under the Constitution from being charged for his actions after the 2020 election. Arguing on behalf of special counsel Jack Smith was veteran litigant Michael Dreeben.

A state prosecutor will investigate whether Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones violated criminal law in his efforts to help former President Donald Trump subvert the 2020 election results in the state.

Peter Skandalakis, director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, has appointed himself to investigate the matter, according to a news release.

There occurs now and then a journalistic accounting that is as marvelous as it is shocking, especially for those of us who’ve become numb to bad journalism and unsubstantiated smear passing as investigative work. Carl Cannon, the Washington bureau chief for RealClearPolitics, has delivered a broadside to the New York Times from out of the fog.

An Atlanta-area judge on Thursday upheld the criminal indictment against former President Donald Trump in Georgia, rejecting the argument that Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election were protected under the First Amendment.

“The defense has not presented, nor is the Court able to find, any authority that the speech and conduct alleged is protected political speech,” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee wrote in his order.

A Georgia judge on Thursday rejected Donald Trump's bid to dismiss criminal charges in the state's 2020 election interference case against him, which the Republican former U.S. president argued violate his free speech rights.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee found that the indictment alleges statements by Trump and 14 others charged in the case were made "in furtherance of criminal activity" and are not protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

A Georgia judge has denied former President Donald Trump's motion to dismiss his 2020 election interference indictment on the grounds of First Amendment protection. 

"After considering the extensive briefing, the argument of counsel, and the indictment, the Court finds these vital constitutional protections do not reach the actions and statements alleged by the State. Nor do the statutes themselves facially violate the First Amendment," Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled Thursday.

Former President Donald Trump and several of his co-defendants in the Georgia election subversion case are appealing a judge’s ruling that let Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis remain on the election subversion case.

The defense attorneys on Friday asked the Georgia Court of Appeals to overturn Judge Scott McAfee’s initial decision that allowed Willis and her office continue to pursue the case but only if Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor with whom she had a romantic relationship, resigned.

Former President Trump urged a state appeals court to review a judge’s decision allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) to remain on Trump’s Georgia 2020 election racketeering case.

Judge Scott McAfee earlier this month ruled Willis’s once-romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade created an appearance of a conflict but allowed the district attorney to move ahead with her prosecution once Wade resigned.