Trump faces Supreme Court immunity test as ‘hush money’ trial continues

More witness testimony in New York as top court decides if Trump can be prosecuted in separate federal election case.

Former United States President Donald Trump faces legal tests in New York and Washington on Thursday in two separate cases that hang over his campaign to return to the Oval Office in the November election.

In New York, the third day of witness testimony is to be held in a historic criminal trial, the first against a US president. Tabloid publisher David Pecker is again expected to take the stand as prosecutors seek to paint a picture of a coordinated effort to influence the 2016 presidential election through malfeasance.

But Trump’s attention may be elsewhere with the US Supreme Court set to consider whether Trump can be prosecuted or claim immunity in a federal case related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

Trump had requested permission to skip the New York trial for the day to sit in on the Supreme Court session, but the request was denied.

“We have a big case today,” Trump told construction workers in Manhattan during a brief campaign stop before the day’s court proceedings. “The judge isn’t allowing me to go.”