Court of Appeal rules that Trump does not have presidential immunity in the attack on the Capitol

a court of washington determined this Tuesday that the former president of U.S donald trump (2017-2021) does not have presidential immunity from the accusation made against him for having tried to reverse the 2020 electoral defeat and having instigated the assault on the Capitol 2021.

“For the purposes of this criminal case, former President Trump became a Trump citizen, with all the defenses of any other criminal defendant.“, noted the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

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And therefore, “Any executive immunity that may have protected him while serving as president no longer protects him against this charge.,” the court wrote.

The decision is a blow to Trump’s defense, which argued that the conduct alleged by the special counsel Jack Smith It was part of his official duties as president and therefore exempted him from criminal liability.

Presumably, the New York tycoon’s defense will appeal the decision to elevate the case to Supreme Court of the United States.

The argument of presidential immunity has become a recurring weapon for Trump’s lawyers, who seek to delay the judicial calendar as much as possible to prevent it from coinciding with the November presidential election race, in which he starts as the big favorite for the Republican nomination.

This Tuesday’s court decision comes after Trump asked the appeal court, on December 24, to annul the decision of a first instance judge who at the time rejected the immunity requests presented by his team of lawyers.

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In the petition filed with the appeals court, Trump’s legal team stressed that impeachment is unconstitutional because presidents cannot be criminally prosecuted unless they are first convicted by the Senate.

“In our system of separation of powers, the Judiciary cannot judge the official acts of a president“said Trump’s lawyers, who claimed that on the day of the events the former president was fulfilling his”official duties” and monitored the integrity of the 2020 elections.

On February 2, the federal judge Tanya Chutkan in washingtonwhich takes the case of assault on the Capitolpostponed the start date of the trial, which was supposed to begin on March 4, pending the resolution announced today.

The of washington It is one of four criminal charges against Trump in various courts. The Republican tycoon is charged in state court in Georgia for allegedly leading a mafia conspiracy to alter the election results in the state, where he lost to the current president, Joe Biden.

In New York was accused of alleged irregular payments to the porn actress Stormy Danielswith which he had a “subject” in the past, to buy his silence during the 2016 election campaign.

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Meanwhile in Florida He is accused of illegally taking and keeping in his mansion Mar-a-Lago (Florida) confidential documents he took from the The White House after leaving power.

This will be a key week for Trump as the Supreme Court will study on February 8th if the Amendment 14 of the Constitution disqualifies the former president from participating in the elections given that several states accuse him of having led a “insurrection”In 2021.

Source: Elcomercio

jack

I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.