With the Supreme Court on sideline for now, Trump's lawyers press immunity claims before lower court
WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump was acting in his role as president when he made claims of “alleged fraud and irregularities” in the 2020 election, his lawyers telling a federal appeals court arguing he is immune from prosecution.
The lawyers also claimed in a filing late Saturday night that the “historical implications are enormous” of the four indictments accusing Trump of a plot to overturn the election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
No other former president has ever been indicted; Trump has been indicted four times in both state and federal court as he campaigns to win back the White House.
“The indictment of President Trump threatens to set off cycles of recrimination and politically motivated prosecution that will plague our nation for decades to come and will likely destroy the foundation of our Republic – American citizens' confidence in an independent justice system.” the lawyers wrote in a brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
For the court, which has set arguments for Jan. 9, the issue will be whether Trump is immune from prosecution for what lawyers say are official actions that fell within the outer bounds of a president's duties and responsibilities.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected that argument earlier this month, siding with prosecutors on Special Counsel Jack Smith's team and declaring that the office of president “does not grant a lifetime 'get out of jail' pass.”
The appeals court's role in the dispute is taking center stage after the Supreme Court on Friday denied a request by Smith for an expedited decision on the immunity question. After Trump appealed Chutkan's order, Smith pushed for quick Supreme Court intervention in an effort to get a quick decision that could keep the case on track for a trial set to begin on March 4.
But now that request has been denied, the two sides are taking their arguments to the appeals court, where a three-judge panel will decide as early as next month whether to affirm or overrule Chutkan's decision.
In their latest filing, Trump's lawyers say that all of the actions Trump is accused of — including pushing the Justice Department to investigate claims of voter fraud and telling state election officials that he believed the election was tainted by irregularities — were “typical” be presidential. actions that protect him from persecution.
“They all reflect the efforts and duties of President Trump, squarely as Chief Executive of the United States, to advocate for and defend the integrity of the federal elections, consistent with his view that they were tainted by fraud and irregularities,” they said.
They also argue that under the Constitution he cannot be criminally prosecuted for conduct for which he was already impeached by Congress but subsequently acquitted.
By contrast, federal prosecutors say Trump broke the law after the election by plotting to disrupt the January 6, 2021, electoral vote count, including by urging then-Vice President Mike Pence not to certify the results certification and by participating in a conspiracy. to organize a series of fake electors in battleground states won by Biden, who would falsely testify that Trump had actually won those states.
Although Trump's lawyers have suggested he had a good faith belief that fraud had affected the election, courts across the country and Trump's own attorney general and other government officials have found no evidence that this was the case.