The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday stayed out of the fight over whether President Donald Trump's appointment of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general is unlawful by rejecting a motion relating to the matter filed in a pending case.
The court turned away the request made by Barry Michaels, a criminal defendant in a federal case whose lawyers challenged Whitaker, a former federal prosecutor, being named in court papers as the acting attorney general after Trump fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions on November 7.
The court in a brief order also declined to hear Michaels' appeal in the underlying firearms-related criminal case.
