United States: justice rejects Donald Trump’s immunity in the case of the attack on the Capitol

A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday unanimously that Donald Trump he has no immunity and he could be prosecuted for trying to stay in power after losing the 2020 election, a new legal problem falling on him in the midst of his presidential campaign to return to the White House.

“For the purposes of this criminal proceeding, Former President Trump became citizen Trump, with all the defenses of any other criminal defendant. “Any executive immunity that might have protected him while he was president no longer protects him from this lawsuit,” the three-judge panel wrote.

Trump without a doubt will appeal this decision: He has already indicated that he intends to ask the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court to review the ruling. What you are looking for is delay any federal ruling until after the November 5 elections. The presiding judge has postponed the trial indefinitely while the immunity battle continues.

The Justice Department has long maintained that the current president cannot be prosecuted. But Trump raised the issue the new declaration that not even former presidents can do so, at least for actions related to their official duties, unless they are first impeached and convicted by Congress. After being acquitted by the Senate of inciting the January 6, 2021 insurrection, Trump said that trying him in federal court would be a legal violation for trying him twice for the same crime.

Legal experts heard in court wrote that Trump’s position It was “absurd”, and so also decided the three appellate judges who judged the case. “I think it is paradoxical to say that it is your constitutional duty to ensure the faithful execution of the laws allows you to violate criminal laws” said Karen L. Henderson, the only Republican on the panel, during discussions on the case in early January

When asked in that hearing whether it was Trump’s opinion on presidential impunity it could enable the assassination of a political rival, former president defense attorney D. John Sauer didn’t disagree. He only suggested that such action would “quickly” lead to impeachment.

Trump’s position

Trump, with whom he marches today a huge advantage in the republican interior, faces four criminal charges. It is unclear today how many of these cases will be able to be tried by a jury during this election year. The paradox is that the tycoon derive electoral advantage from these processes because it looks like a political objective of unfair trials promoted by a corrupt justice system controlled by Democrats. His followers believe him and are moved by every failure.

Days ago, the former president had published on his social network Truth Social, a post in capital letters (screaming) in which he explained why immunity is necessary: “A president of the United States must enjoy total immunity, without which it would be impossible for him to assume his duties. Any mistake, even if well-intentioned, would be met with an accusation from the opposition party at the end of his term. Even events that “cross the line” must fall under full immunity, otherwise there will be years of trauma trying to distinguish right from wrong. There must be certainty, for example: the police cannot be prevented from doing their job of stopping crime robustly and effectively because they want to protect themselves from the occasional “rogue cop” or “bad apple”. Sometimes you have to deal with the “good but maybe a little imperfect”.

All presidents must enjoy complete and total presidential immunity or the authority or the president of the United States will be damaged and disappear forever. I hope it’s an easy decision.”

Trump’s lawyer explained at the trial that hypothetically a ruling against Trump would lead to “cycles of recriminations” in which every former president is accused of a crime. George W. Bush could be prosecuted for justifying the Iraq war with false information, he said; Barack Obama could stand trial for drone strikes that killed civilians.

Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team, which filed the federal charges, argued that Trump’s efforts to overturn the election results, as prosecutors allege led to the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, They were criminals and They did not constitute official acts who were covered by presidential immunity.

“Never before has it been alleged that a sitting president, with private individuals and using the levers of power, he sought to radically subvert the democratic republic and the election system,” one of Smith’s lawyers said in court. “And, frankly, if this kind of fact pattern were to emerge again, I think it would be terribly scary if there wasn’t some kind of mechanism to get to that “criminally”.