Increasing likelihood of criminal trial delay
The Supreme Court already rejected one Trump-related, fast-track request. Special counsel Jack Smith had asked justices to quickly decide the validity of Trump's claim that he should essentially be immune from prosecution for anything he did as president. Instead, justices will allow that argument, which is related to Trump's federal prosecution for 2020 election interference, to percolate up through appeals courts.
The court's rejection of Smith's request increased the possibility that Trump's slate of four separate criminal trials could be delayed. The federal election interference case currently has a trial date of March 4, the day before Super Tuesday, the biggest date on the presidential primary calendar.
Role reversal
Trump's strategy is to delay his trials. His attorneys argued Thursday that Smith should be potentially be held in contempt of court for continuing to submit filings in the case while an appeals court considers Trump's immunity claim.
Anyone used to the normal Republican argument that state governments should get more control over who can take part in their elections will be confused by Trump's arguments in his own case that Congress should be in charge of who gets to appear on presidential primary ballots.
There are still undecided voters
Republicans in Iowa will decide on January 15 if they'll back Trump or one of his top two rivals, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, both of whom will try to convince uncommitted, likely caucusgoers during town halls on CNN Thursday night.
RELATED: 5 things to watch for in CNN's town halls with DeSantis and Haley
CNN's Jeff Zeleny appeared on "Inside Politics" Thursday and told Dana Bash that there do in fact appear to be undecided Republicans in Iowa, even this close to the caucuses and after being inundated with millions upon millions of dollars in ads from the campaigns and the super PACs that support them.
I asked him what he's hearing from these people who are still making up their mind, and he sent me this email:
While the campaign has been underway for months, many voters are just now taking a closer look at the candidates and the race. The voters we've met who are still weighing their decisions are largely those who are looking for an alternative to Donald Trump. The supporters of the former president are more likely to be locked in on their choices.
An undecided Iowa Republican named Doug Stout told Zeleny in Waukee, Iowa, that he doesn't like the idea that Haley and DeSantis are essentially vying for second in Iowa, since the ultimate goal is the presidency.
But he likes that either DeSantis or Haley could signal a move into the future, "making it a race about tomorrow rather than about the past."
"President Trump, for the good and the bad of him, wants to make everything about the past," Stout told Zeleny.
Stout thinks highly of Trump but would rather see Republicans pick a governor.
The caucuses have a spotty record of picking presidents, but they do play an important role in the primary process, as Zeleny told Bash.
"Organization is what matters," Zeleny told Bash, noting, "You have to turn up at 7:00 at the same time all across the state to your neighborhood precinct locations."
That, Zeleny said, could be a challenge for Haley, who has improved in recent polling, but has not made Iowa her top focus like DeSantis, who has been building his Iowa organization for more than a year. Haley has put more emphasis on New Hampshire, which conducts its first-in-the-nation primary on January 23.
Haley joked during a campaign event in New Hampshire Wednesday that New Hampshire voters "correct" the Iowa results before her "sweet state of South Carolina brings it home."
In fact, neither state has a spotless record, as I noted in our What Matters guide to Iowa caucuses published last month:
In an open year, when there's no incumbent running for a party's nomination, Iowa has a spotty record at picking the president, particularly for Republicans.
Only one Republican, George W. Bush in 2000, won a contested Iowa face-off and then went on to win the White House.
This is not like any previous open Republican primary, since Trump is running as a former president. Unlike 2016, when he lost the Iowa Republican caucuses to Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Trump has a much more organized ground game this year.
Plus, while Haley and DeSantis are vying for uncommitted caucusgoers, Trump's supporters seem loyal specifically to him.
