Jack Smith, the special counsel, stressed that speed was in the public interest, pushing back against former President Donald J. Trump’s request that the court pause an appeals court ruling.
A lawyer for the former president said he would be immune from prosecution for the murder of a political rival unless he was first impeached and convicted in Congress.
The court has already moved the case along at an exceptionally brisk pace and is expected to make its decision fairly quickly by the standards of a typical appeal.